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  “Impressive, isn’t it?”

  Lux turned to find Lucas walking up to her. “I wouldn’t recognize it as the home I once spent some time in.” Lux remembered how Moore had made love to her in Shayne’s bedroom when she first began knowing him from the Academy. Then when they fell in love, how he would make love to her in the cabana at the pool when Moore was left alone and abandoned at the mansion after Shayne was defeated and sent to hell. Moore’s mansion held so many memories…

  Lucas shook her out of her thoughts and said, “This mansion barely looks like it was when we came here. We’ve been working hard to transform this classical and fancy mansion into some stark army barracks. Gives the slayers a mindset that we are at war, which we are.”

  “I can see that.” She looked at him, his stern eyes so mature and solemn. He was a born leader. “Is that why I haven’t seen you around Brax’s house for a while?”

  Lucas nodded. “We ordered, brought in and set up over a hundred bunkbeds. We bought linens, pillows and wool blankets. Despite the already dozen full bathrooms, we had to install a few more toilettes and showers.”

  They arrived at the ballroom that had been converted into a huge mess tent. Dozens of men and women sat eating and chatting. Most were young students from the Academy, but some were experienced slayers from virtually everywhere in the country.

  “Nice bunch,” Lux said, her gaze traveling up one long table and back down another.

  “And when they get up, a whole other nice bunch is going to take their place. The mess hall fills up five separate times with new slayers.”

  “This is an amazing transformation,” Lux said to Lucas as she looked around at the room she didn’t recognize. Barely any luxuries of the elegant mansion remained.

  “And it was done amazingly fast,” Lucas said.

  “You’ve done a great job, Lucas.”

  “And Sully helped a lot.”

  “So, you boys can work together after all,” Lux said with a teasing grin.

  Lucas cracked a smile.

  She turned away from the mess hall and headed to the staircase. “Care to show me where all these people are sleeping?”

  Nodding he followed up the stairs. “Sully spent many days at the Shadowlight Hunters Academy, talking to every student and letting them know how important that they come here as soon as they could.”

  “Looks like more answered the call than we’d anticipated.”

  Lucas stopped at the threshold of the first bedroom and pushed the door open. “If they continued to come in the way they have, we may have to convert Brax’s house into bunkers as well.”

  Lux looked at the medium sized room with a line-up of five narrow bunk beds set up one beside the other.

  “Has your father arrived yet?” Lucas asked.

  “No,” she said as they walked on to the next room. “But I heard he’s on his way. Ida… my mother, reached him and told him and Hector where we all were.”

  They stopped at one of the larger rooms where a row of six bunk beds were lined up against one wall and another seven bunk beds on the other wall.

  “Want to see more?” Lucas said.

  Lux shook her head. “I think I get the idea.”

  As they headed back to the stairs, Lucas stopped at a door. “This is one of the new bathrooms we had installed.” He opened the door to show her a very simple and basic bathroom. Squeezed into what was once a hall closet was a tiny sink and adequate toilette and a shower stall.

  “Good job,” Lux said.

  “I’ll admit that plumbing isn’t really my strong suit.”

  “No,” Lux agreed. “I think that coordination is your strong suit. But you did design and help build the beautiful mansion we were living in back in Vegas. You’re good at building, strategizing, and leading.”

  She turned and put her hand to his cheek. “You’ve done a remarkable job, Lucas, and in so few days.” She smiled at him, as he looked down and blushed.

  “I try to do my best.”

  “Your best might be needed at Brax’s house.”

  “Really? I thought I was to stay here and look over the slayers.”

  She started down the stairs. “I’ll let you know. If more slayers are to come into town and need housing, you’re the guy to call to get the job done. But with that mind of yours, I think you can put it to some use coming up with something Ida and Dr. Good has in mind.”

  Chapter 5

  After the majority of the work on the two mansions completed, Lux headed out onto the patio to take in the late morning sun and catch up with news and emails. With a cool lemonade in one hand, and the paper wrapped around a tube of sunblock in the other, she found a nice spot in the sun and sat back in the lounge chair.

  The last few days had been a rush of activity, with construction, cleaning, adjusting and re-organizing. It was nice to take a breather and relax.

  But after barely having time to read a few headlines, Asher came up to her and blocked the much-desired sunlight.

  “Taking it easy?” he said with a teasing smile.

  She glanced up at him. “Well, everything is pretty much done.”

  “Not quite, my little angel. Ida wants to see us.”

  Lux closed her eyes and grimaced. Then she opened her eyes and smiled up at Asher. “I had a feeling this would happen.”

  “Come on,” Asher said, holding his hand out to her. “She’s waiting for us in her office.”

  She took Asher’s hand and got up.

  “What do you think she wants?” Lux said as they made their way down the corridor to Ida’s office.

  “I have no idea, but I assume it will be very time consuming.”

  At the door to Ida’s office, Asher tapped his knuckles to the hard wood. “It’s Asher and Lux.”

  “Come in.”

  Asher opened the door, and he and Lux both gasped. Ida was dressed as a magnificent warrior, with a tight black leather bodice, with a silver belt cinched at her waist and a silver collar at her neck. Her arms and legs were in a strange type of flexible silver armor that was both sexy and strong.

  “Wow,” Lux finally said.

  “Ditto,” Asher said.

  Ida’s hair was pulled up off her face. She came to them and smiled.

  “While this suit has an extraordinary capacity to save me from a lot of injuries,” Ida said. “I have to admit that some demons have simply been caught off guard at the mere sight of me. It made the fight almost too easy. Funny how creatures are all the same.” She looked up at Asher. “Funny how males are all the same.”

  Asher clamped his gaping jaw shut and shifted his gaze to the piles of paper on Ida’s desk.

  “That is a very impressive outfit,” Lux said.

  Ida ran her hand over her abdomen. “I’ll admit it’s a little tighter than when I last wore it, but it’s still great.”

  “So, what is this all about?” Lux said. “You’re dressed for battle, and you’ve called on us.”

  “Yes,” Ida said. She turned her back to them, showing them and equally impressive view. She picked up two sheets of paper and turned back to them. “I’ve been going over your training experience, Lux. I know that you’re comfortable with a sword, and I know you have stunning physical capabilities.”

  “Thank you,” Lux said. “I have tried to work hard on that. I’ve trained a bit with Romeo, and I’ve also trained with Moore. Even Lucas and Sully showed me a few tricks; things that I had never thought of before. They’re all very good teachers; good trainers.”

  “I have no doubt, but the training you now need goes beyond what they can show you. I need you to work on your angelic powers.”

  Lux glanced up to Asher. They had discussed this many times.

  “I’ve spoken to all the men around you, Lux. There’s no denying that you’re a talented slayer and a fearless fighter, but they all agreed; you doubt yourself and you doubt your angelic powers.”

  “I’ve told her that a thousand times,” Asher said. He loo
ked down to Lux. “It’s as if there’s something holding you back. I know that losing Brax and Moore when they went into that portal and ended up in hell for so long deeply affected you. But it seems as if there is still something that keeps you from having the faith in you that you need to have.”

  “Well said,” Ida said. “And that’s why I want us to go to the Shadowlight Academy and work on that. I want you to train, not just your physical abilities, but these new powers that you have as well.”

  Lux nodded. “All right.” She looked down at the shorts and bright yellow tank top she wore, along with the flip flops, then she looked up to warrior Ida again. “Should I change?”

  Ida smiled. “Actually,” she said thoughtfully. “I think that what you’re wearing will do just fine.”

  She led the way out of the office and down the corridor that brought them to the garage. Despite the metallic look of her armor, Ida’s motions were smooth, graceful and, above all, silent.

  In the garage, Ida made her way to a silver Mercedes and they all got in.

  Once at the Academy, Ida led them to the chapel at the back of the administration building. She pushed the small heavy door back and entered. Inside, she dipped her fingers in the bowl of Holy Water then touched her brow, chest, left and right shoulder, then bowed to the modest crucifix set above the altar.

  “Have faith in the Holy Trinity,” Ida said softly.

  Lux did the same. “ In nomine Patris, et Filil et Spiritus Sancti, amen.”

  Ida glanced back at her and grinned. “The Trinitarian formula in Latin. Nice.”

  Asher also dipped his fingers in the Holy Water and crossed himself.

  Ida walked to the altar and turned back to them. “I want you to consider this, Lux. Evil is an unpredictable and fickle thing. The worse thing we could do was to be complacent about anything evil. We must never underestimate the depths of evil, never assume that we are free of evil.”

  “I never would,” Lux assured her.

  “Tell me about your faith, Lux.”

  “I have the love of Jesus in my heart. I believe there is a divine power who watches over us and empowers us with the will to choose. I believe in the purity and good of people. I believe, that ultimately, good triumphs.”

  Ida nodded. “And what about the faith in yourself?”

  Lux paused a moment. She believed in herself. She knew she was a talented slayer. She knew she had special quality. But, as Asher had pointed out, something was holding her back.

  “I wasn’t able to detect the fact that Romeo was a succubus,” Lux finally said. “And I was fooled, more than once, by demons posing as Brax and Moore.”

  “And this has led you to doubt yourself?” Ida said.

  Lux nodded.

  “I think you underestimate the power of love,” Ida said. “Your love for these men was so strong, so overpowering that your judgement was momentarily thrown off. Your desperate desire to be with these men blinded you to what was right in front of you. It’s understandable. But now that the distraction is gone, now that your men are back at your side, it’s time to put that doubt about your judgement to bed, for good.”

  Again, Lux nodded.

  “I want you to close your eyes, and feel the power of this room, feel the love of God. Breathe it in. Take it in, and hold onto it.”

  Ida walked to the small statue of Jesus and took the gold cross necklace that hung on one of his hands. “Take this,” Ida said. “In moments of even the slightest doubt, hold it, kiss it… believe it.”

  Lux took the necklace and without even realizing it, she began the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified; died; and was buried. He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Ida and Asher murmured.

  Ida looked at Lux. “It’s all too easy to fight demons when they stand right in front of you. But demons and evil, lurks in places that are not always so obvious. That’s why your faith is so important.”

  Asher nodded. “I agree. Facing a demon in its demonic form, while challenging, can be relatively easy. But dealing with the evils of the world has often proven difficult, if not impossible.”

  “I have a test for you,” Ida said with a sly smile. “Let’s go.”

  With a playful bounce in her step, Ida walked out of the chapel and headed to the campus cafeteria where many students were eating their lunch.

  “What are we doing here?” Lux said. “We just had a huge breakfast at home. I’m not really hungry.”

  “We’re not here to eat, dear,” Ida said. “I want you to listen. I want you to tune in to what’s going on around you. I want you to find the evil that lurks… even amidst some of these student slayers.”

  Lux looked curiously at her. “There is no evil in slayers. It goes against everything a slayer is against.”

  “So, you would think. But evil sometimes has a way of seeping in. It usually appears as something rather innocuous, but, if left to fester, can become a real problem.”

  Ida found a table right in the center of the noisy cafeteria. “Sit. Listen. Pay close attention.”

  A little confounded by Ida’s request, Lux looked at her for a frustrated moment, then sat down and closed her eyes to listen. She had no idea what she was listening for.

  “There are conversations all around you, Lux. You’ll know evil when you hear it.”

  Lux listened.

  “I can’t believe you just said that, Anna,” a young student at the next table said.

  “Look, Gina,” her friend said. “I don’t think you need to completely give up meat in order to be healthy.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Besides, think of all the other benefits of giving up meat,” Gina said.

  “You know. I don’t try to tell you what to eat. Why are you trying to tell me how to be?”

  “Because I’m right and you’re wrong. I think it’s my responsibility to show you how to be a better person.”

  “No. You’re just attacking me because I have a different point of view than you,” Anna said.

  “You don’t have a different point of view. You have the wrong point of view.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says me, stupid.”

  Lux opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the two voices.

  “And, fuck this,” Gina went on as she pushed her chair back, stood and grabbed her lunch tray. “I don’t sit with stupid people.”

  “Gina,” Anna said as she, too, stood. “You’re just a fucking whore who latches onto the trend of the week. Go fuck yourself.”

  Lux looked to Ida. “Divisiveness,” she said.

  Ida nodded.

  “The devil loves to pit us against one another.”

  Again, Ida nodded. “This, of course, is a rather minor example, but it is effective. Those girls sat down to lunch together. They’ve been friends for a long time. And yet, because of a simple difference, they went their separate ways.”

  “We have to work at sticking together,” Lux said. “No matter what.”

  “Look at us,” Asher said. “All us guys who really only have you in common. We all love you and want to help you, love you and be with you. But we have a lot of diverging views, opinions and character traits.”

  “Yet, you’ve all found a way to keep the peace.”

  “And we must always keep that in mind.” Asher stood. “I’m going to go find those girls and remind them why they are here at all.”

  Smiling, Lux nodded and watched Asher go off to bring those girls back to what really mattered.

  As Lux and Ida remained seated, they heard more examples
of minor divisiveness.

  “It’s all around us,” Ida said. “It’s pervasive and so destructive. Demons will seep through cracks in badly sealed portals, but even when we’ve pushed them back, even when we’ve sealed portals, the evil that they leave behind remains… in small, imperceptible droplets, but it’s there.”

  Lux nodded her understanding. “Thank you, Ida. You’re right. I’ve always looked at the physical demons, have always worked and train to slay their physical beings, but I never considered the after-effects of evil.”

  Asher returned, a big and beaming smile on his face. “I’m really good at this,” he said. “Those girls don’t even know what hit them. I told them about all the good times they’d had together. I told them about all the thing they had in common, and I told them of all they would be missing by remaining angry at each other… and for what? A silly argument. By the time I was through with them, they were hugging and kissing.”

  “Good job, Asher,” Lux said.

  “And now that you’re back,” Ida said as she stood. “I think I’ve made my point about fighting evil everywhere in the world, so now let’s get to the physical fighting.”

  “I’m ready,” Asher said.

  “Let’s show you what your angel powers can really do,” Ida said. “Let’s get back into the car.”

  “Where are we going?” Lux asked.

  Ida said, “Somewhere you and Asher can let loose and see how powerful your angel abilities are. But, somewhere where no one outside can see it too. As hybrids of humans and angels, it is important to remember you must be able to keep and control your angelic powers in check, but also know how to use it when you need it.”

  Chapter 6

  After discovering what her angelic abilities could be like and feeling much more confident in herself and her abilities, Lux took a few days to go off to the mountains where she would train with Asher or by herself.

  After a few days of training, she returned to Brax’s mansion and pulled the small sports car Brax had loan her into the long drive. Up ahead she saw a car she knew had not been there when she’d left earlier that morning.