GAME ON - GoM 2

15

Alex had gotten Tom to admit he was in no shape to go to work, and convinced him to stay in bed at least until noon, to give his body time to heal. He'd accepted, growling and grumbling. After the Corbans left for Jack's funeral, the silence filling the house helped him to fall in a deep, restoring sleep.

But by noon his keen ear registered the voices from the kitchen. He woke up and took a moment to grasp where he was and why he was still in bed if the sun was so high in the sky. Just moving to get out of bed reminded him why, because every of his muscles waist up complained out loud. He ignored the pain and the feeling stiff like a log while he got dressed. To get distracted, he paid attention to the Corbans' voices. They sounded like having a heated argument.

"Father Jason! Really!" Alex said as Tom crossed the living room.

"Any other name that comes to mind? Maybe we should call Mrs. Woodson? We only need to tell'er it's about aliens and she'll be thrilled."

"You know there's nobody else to do it. And that's one of the reasons why your plan sucks."

"The other reason being it's my plan, not yours, right? Maybe you have a better idea?"

"Not yet. Which doesn't mean we're bound to try yours!"

"What's your problem? Everybody said it was okay!"

Alex was about to reply when Tom cleared his throat behind them, to let them know he was there. They turned to him and Claire smiled. Alex resumed her angry pacing.

"Tom! Want some tea?" Claire said, already grabbing the tea kettle.

Alex managed to soften her tone to ask, "How're you feeling?"

"Better, thanks." Tom nodded at Claire. "A tea would be great, thanks."

An awkward silence pooled in the kitchen while he sat at the bar, slow and careful. He found a position that only made half his ribs ache.

"So what's this plan you don't like?" he asked Alex, calm and almost casual.

She shook her head. "Don't get me started. It's the most stupid nonsense I've ever heard."

"It's putting up a magic circle tomorrow morning," said Claire. "To restrain the runts while we retrieve the Cross."

"Why tomorrow morning?" Tom asked.

"To give Blake time to ship a hundred demons!"

Tom's glance was enough to silence Alex. He faced Claire again, waiting for her answer.

"For starters, making the magic circle takes four people and we all need some initiation to do it. That takes hours."

"But not all night."

Tom kept his eyes on Claire, ignoring Alex, and heard her snort.

"Mark explained to me that runts, when not worshipping demons and killing other people, are actually regular guys. He said all of them have ordinary jobs. So I thought we should try this during working hours."

"So they shouldn't be so many as last night."

"Exactly."

Tom turned to Alex. "And what's wrong about it?"

"First of all, we know right now there are no demons keeping the Cross. That ain't gonna last. We need to move fast, right tonight."

"Sure, when all the runts are having dinner at Markus'."

Tom glanced at Claire and she rolled her eyes, but held her peace.

"But the worst part of Claire's plan is that since we're some men down—Aidan and Mark gone, you and Ollie on the mend—she wants to bring Graham and Father Jason in among the four working the spell. Meaning she wants to take him to Markus' place, even knowing there's gonna be some fighting!"

"And what's the alternative?" asked Tom, keeping calm to force them to chill down.

"There's no alternative," Claire hurried to reply.

"What are the actual odds? Can it work?"

"That's anybody's guess," Alex replied. "It all depends on what we find at Markus'. If there's only a few runts, it may work. If they're dozens like last night, they're gonna kick our ass from here to Sunday. And if the new Keepers are already in town..."

"Father Gregory can channel the shit outta them," said Claire.

Tom frowned. "I thought he couldn't get near the house."

"He'd take the southern end of the woods," the girl explained. "That's about half a mile away from the house. It should be safe."

"Should." Tom repeated.

"It's not that easy, Claire!"

Claire and Tom looked at Alex, expecting her to elaborate. She sighed, shaking her head.

"If he only needs to walk by the house to trigger the demonic seal on the Cross, think what would happen if he channels within a mile around. The seal would roast our asses!"

"You didn't trigger it when you channeled in the clearing," Claire argued.

"Listen to me, kiddo: every time you channel, the energy you bring down is stronger than the last time. So if Thames does it... If what I did the other night was like a hand grenade, he's a walking warhead. For our own sake, we cannot count on him to have our backs. Meaning Bass, Sean, Phil and I would have to lure whoever's with Markus out, fight them until your circle gets working—while keeping the four of you safe—and then get the Cross. And we'd have to do all of that the old way, 'cause I can't risk channeling either." Alex met Tom's eyes. "Now tell me it's a good plan."

"I still think we should try," Claire replied, bringing Tom's tea to the breakfast bar.

He raised his eyebrows, grimacing. "We're not getting any more help any time soon, Alex," he said. "And Claire's right about one thing: the longer we take to make a move, the longer Markus has to get more help to keep us away."

Alex scowled, outraged at his taking Claire's side.

"Am I wrong?" he asked softly.

She didn't answer. She snorted again, snatched her jacket and strode out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" asked Claire, taken aback. "What about lunch?"

They heard the front door closing. She shook her head and sighed when they heard Daughtry singing away down the street after the Hilux.