It was about seventy miles from Waynesboro to the gate. I know I went down through Emmitsburg, then took Route 140 up to Westminster, but I honestly don’t remember the trip at all. I was very close to home, but couldn’t bring myself to go there. Wyatt would take care of everything for me, and be a rich man for his troubles. I hoped it helped make up for me not saying goodbye in person. I had turned off my cell phone to avoid his calls. I just couldn’t talk to him right now. I just couldn’t tell him in person that I would never see him again. I tried to keep my mind off of him and off Gregory as I drove numbly down the road. The back roads from Westminster to Columbia were beginning to fill with late Saturday traffic, but I was driving in the opposite direction and thankfully didn’t hit any gridlock.

Columbia was a well manicured suburb outside of Baltimore, filled with expensive homes in wooded subdivisions, consultant and technology offices down tree lined avenues, and winding, well maintained streets. The place had an overwhelming air of neat, liberal money. On the surface, it gave flashy lip service to environmentalism, but underneath it was as shallow and selfish as anywhere else in the world. It was as fake as a boob job and acrylic nails. A very expensive boob job and acrylic nails that people lied about and claimed were real. I shopped here a lot.

I always got a bit lost trying to find the damned mall. All the streets looked the same, and the buildings and signs were artfully hidden behind maples and oaks. I know this seems like a strange place to put a major gate between two dimensions. It’s not like the angels intended to put a big gate at a mall. Heck, they didn’t intend it to be anywhere near civilization.

When the gates were first built, they were in remote areas where it would be easy to see anyone coming and going, and to guard them. The humans are like ants though, breeding like crazy and spreading themselves over every surface of the planet. For some reason, all the major gates ended up engulfed or near big cities and, unfortunately for the angels guarding them, tended to be in a high traffic areas. The one in Columbia was no exception.

The universe clearly had a sense of humor, for a mall had grown up around it. A big, upper middle class shopping haven complete with a Nordstrom’s, and Macy’s. You didn’t want to cross during the night, when the mall was closed, but during the day it was open season. The poor gate guardian had the worst job ever. If you hit it during Labor Day or the weekend, the place was teeming with people. Through some weird design fluke, the gate moved around the mall area, but once you located it, you just blended in with the teens and harried soccer moms and slipped right through. Because it was so popular and well used, the gate had to have a full time, alert and powerful guardian. He constantly changed his appearance, and he didn’t take prisoners.

I parked my car safely on the outer edges, even though I’d never see it again, and walked in the Nordstrom’s entrance. The gate was clearly not in the shoe section, and I checked it thoroughly. Nor was it anywhere near the rhinestone studded Ralph Lauren belts. I hoped it was in the Sephora store. It wasn’t, but a really cool shade of MAC lip gloss was. I was now accessorized with a little bag as part of my shopper disguise. Clearly, no one would suspect me with a cosmetics bag, although I had no idea what I was going to do with lip gloss back home. Most of my forms there didn’t even include lips.

I spent several hours weaving my way through stores, looking for the gate. I hoped it wasn’t on the outside of the mall today. It would be harder to slip in unnoticed while in the parking lot. Not that I needed to be unnoticed this time, since I had my handy dandy get–out–of–jail free card from Gregory, but old habits die hard. I had made it down to the food court, and was contemplating buying a smoothie when I heard a voice call me in a name that should never be spoken this side of the gates.

“Azi Niyaz!” a voice said, with a tone of relief.

I froze. Two of my names. Crap, it’s a wonder the idiot didn’t go ahead and spew out the others. I turned carefully around and saw one of the Low behind me. He was in the flesh of a thirteen year old boy, which was disturbing in and of itself. I don’t like to Own children. They don’t have a lot of life experience, so it’s really a waste of time. Plus, they make fool decisions in regards to their willingness. It just felt wrong, but they were easy prey so it was something the Low did if they got the chance.

The form he took had floppy brown hair in a mop around his face and ears and pale skin with blue eyes. His jeans hung practically off his hips, and his t–shirt advertised some kind of surfboard. It was a well put together form, but the eyes gave him away. They were incorrectly formed and like rat’s eyes darting around under the curtain of brown bangs.

As soon as the Low said two of my names, he sputtered to a stop, realizing his error. He cringed back from me and corrected himself.

“I mean El. I’m so sorry, El. I welcome your punishment.”

Yeah. I could hardly flay him or remove a digit here in the food court. Punishment would be in order back home, not just for saying my names this side of the gates, but by addressing me that way in general. There were titles of respect you used for those above you. Names were for peers and above only. This guy was Low; he wasn’t even in the ranks of the hierarchy. He really shouldn’t even have been addressing me at all. Using the title El was a good call, though. El meant “Mighty Being” or “Powerful One” and was a title used far above my pay grade. He was flattering me to make up for his mistake. He should have used Baal, which means Lord, and is more in keeping with my level.

I waited for him to proceed. He must be desperate or he wouldn’t have come within twenty feet of me, let alone spoke to me. He shifted from foot to foot, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground right before me. The guy clearly knew his manners.

“My apologies, El, for disturbing you with my presence. I am unable to find the gate and would be glad to offer my person to the lowliest of your household in return for assistance.”

Wow. It was way above his station to ask me for assistance. He truly was desperate. He can’t have been a total idiot. Beyond his initial error, his etiquette was impeccable. I would have been offended if he offered himself to me, as I was above his station. To offer himself to the lowest rung of my household was fitting, but the service he was asking was far beyond that gift.

I looked at him closely. He probably saved for centuries to purchase assistance crossing the gates on a long awaited holiday, and now found himself stranded by his guide and unable to return. I wondered if Gregory would even bother with someone so low, or if he would have one of his minions dispatch him. The angel seemed to take some pride in doing it himself, so maybe this guy would rate.

“Did you pay Charon for passage, or some other guide?” I asked.

The Low let out a huge breath in gratitude, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor in front of me.

“Oh no, El. I could not afford Charon’s fee, so he advised me to try another guide. The journey here was uneventful, but it’s been two days since he was to meet me and I fear I am stranded. I don’t have the skill to find the gate on my own or avoid the guardian.”

Great. He probably paid Phlegyas or one of his flunkies. Phlegyas was good. He wasn’t as good as Charon, but he could activate the gates and get someone safely back and forth. He was very untrustworthy, though. It didn’t matter how much you paid him, he was liable to forget about you or just not bother. The Low should have withheld partial payment, and had someone back home ready to beat Phlegyas to a pulp if he didn’t return as expected.

Two days. He must be starving and scared. He was so Low, a human could probably kill him with bare hands. I wondered if he’d been sleeping in the parking garage with the homeless people. He didn’t look very dirty. I wondered if he could even convert, or if he’d had someone else do it for him. His form was pretty good for the level he was at and his speech and manners were good. Maybe he had some unrecognized talents. I should send him home to see if my household could use him. If not, they could play with him a bit and set him loose. Did my get–out–of–jail–free card include a Low?

“Follow me. Remain at least ten feet behind me at all times. Try to act as if you’re not following me.” I spun around and headed out, knowing that the guy would rather slit his own throat than lose me in the crowd.

Finally, I found the gate — by the carousel of all places. It was a few feet in front of a bench parents used to watch their children go round and round on the plaster horses. The humans walked by and through it without the skill to activate it. Humans could fall through some of the wild gates accidently, and the elf gates were sometimes set up to snag unwary humans like a carnivorous plant and bring them over, but the angels had done a good job. Their gates were complex and perfect creations. Many of us had the skill to activate them, but an equal number could not, resulting in a thriving guide industry. Some guides were on the level, and some would take your money and get you killed.

I popped into Starbucks and sipped on an iced latte while looking casually around for the guardian. I assumed the Low was still following me. I didn’t check and I certainly didn’t offer to get him a coffee. Normally, I would have roamed around here for hours excluding people and narrowing down the loiterers until I identified the guardian, but not today. Tossing the remains of my latte in the trash, I walked right up to the gate and placed my left hand upon it. Before I had a chance to activate it, my wrist was in the surprisingly firm grip of a tiny elderly woman with purple hair and a wildly patterned dress.

“You should not touch that, dearie,” she said in a pleasant voice. I saw a flash of sharp little piranha teeth as she smiled.

“You should not touch me, dearie,” I replied, turning my other arm to show her the tattoo.

She jumped like I’d stung her and stared at the mark. It would have been one thing if it were just the tattoo, but that damned hickey was still there too. And I had the feeling that it wasn’t supposed to be. She better not try and touch it or I’d punch her across the floor. Then I’d get arrested for assaulting a little old lady. I wondered if I could call Gregory from jail and have him come down and make bail for me. I didn’t think he had a cell phone. Even if he did, I doubted he’d bail me out.

The gate guardian peered closely at the tattoo and I held my breath, fist ready. Finally she released my wrist, and looked me up and down, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Well, I’m certainly not one to question my superior’s actions or decisions,” she said in a rather sarcastic voice. Then she went on to question them anyway. “That’s plain wrong. I’ve seen bound demons before, but not that. That’s just insane, that’s what that is. What was he thinking? Not that it matters. You’re walking dead anyway, and the bond will break once you’re killed. I’ve been told to let you cross, which I had to have him repeat twice. I’ve never been told to let someone cross. And why he’d let you cross with that on your arm, I have no idea. Why would he want you walking around the other demons with that? Perhaps he just wants to freak them all out and send them into a state of panic.”

I wondered what it was about the mark that would send my kind into a state of panic? Would they be alarmed that one of their kind had been bound and not killed like we normally were? Would they suspect me as a spy?

“This has been a very enjoyable conversation,” I told her. She seemed rather insubordinate for a guardian. Maybe all the years hanging around teenagers at the mall had affected her attitude. “Can I activate it now and go, or are we going to discuss this over salad and an iced tea first?”

“So what has he compelled you to do?” she chatted on. “Are you going to bring back a hoard of demons for him to exterminate? Act as a go between and negotiate something with the elves? Maybe blow up your entire realm? Usually it’s building stuff, but you don’t seem the type to put up temples, bridges or pyramids.”

“Do I look like I’m compelled to do anything? Do I seriously look like anyone could compel me to even bring them a coaster?”

She looked me over again. “You look like you’re compelled to cause trouble, but I doubt that’s the boss’ directive.”

“Can we get on with this, then?” This guardian was a pain in the ass.

“Oh no, you can’t activate the gate. I have specific instructions that I must activate it for you. In fact,” she dug around in a large purse, “I took notes.”

She pulled out a brown fast–food napkin with writing on it and read from it.

“Do not let her activate the gate. She is liable to close it in on herself half way through. Then I’ll need to come back here to pull bits of her crushed body out, and that will cause me to work months restoring the gate. Activate the gate for her. Also, make sure she doesn’t accidently drag in dozens of shopping humans and the kiddy carousel with her to the other side. It’s never happened before, but she’ll find a way.”

Ha, ha. So funny. Gregory the angel comedian. “Fine,” I told her, flicking my wrist for the Low to approach. He darted over to stand silent looking at the floor in front of my feet.

“Oh, no,” the guardian protested. “He told me you, not you and some sniveling worm. You can cross. I’ll take care of this one. He’s not significant enough to bother the boss with.”

Well, that answered that question. I put some steel into my gaze and hefted the weight of my raw energy to the surface in a flash, just to show her what I was packing. She didn’t even budge.

“How disappointing,” I sneered. “I will just go back to the angel and let him know that I was unable to complete the task he compelled me to do because the guardian would not allow me through with my servant. He’ll have to leave the pressing matter he is dealing with to accompany me back here.”

The guardian clearly didn’t like that idea, but I could see her weighing if it was a bluff or not.

“He’s not even high enough to be considered a being,” she said grudgingly. “I could see where maybe the boss didn’t notice his existence. Still, I’m going to activate the gate, and go get some sweet and sour pork. As far as I’m concerned, you crossed alone.”

Good compromise. She activated the gate along with a repel perimeter to make sure I didn’t accidentally drag in any humans than headed off to the food court.

One step and I’d be home. Back to my household, my own kind, the life I’d grown up with. The time I’d spent here wasn’t much when compared to my life so far. Just an extended vacation. Time to end it and get back to business.

Time to do something reckless and impulsive. I turned to the Low and took his hand. With a flash of energy, I twisted his hand completely around, breaking the wrist and facing it palm up on the arm. I’ll give the guy credit, he didn’t even flinch. He might be useful after all.

“Go to the steward of my household and show him this. He will have you pay for the service I’ve rendered. Whatever payment he deems fitting.” I motioned to the gate, and the Low crossed, ducking his head in gratitude but never raising his eyes. Then I closed the gate, dismissed the repel perimeter and walked out the nearest mall exit.