More Things in Heaven and Earth 2/4
Previous
Chapter 2
Inquiries
It was about 3 PM the next day when a battered green Ford pulled up outside of Maggie’s Diner. Garnet watched the tall, balding driver get out and ducked into the kitchen to check the sketch that John Winchester had asked the local police artist to distribute. It was almost an exact match.
“Jim, call Dean,” she said in a low voice. “Jules, no matter where he sits, I wait on him, got me?”
“Got you,” Jules nodded.
As she got her tools together, part of her wondered how in the hell she got to be the head of Maggie’s Diner’s Supernatural Patrol, but she didn’t spare much thought for that. Sam and Dean trusted her. That was all that mattered. And right now, she needed to get as much information on Samuel Campbell as she could, as discreetly as possible.
She walked up and smiled. “Hey, there. I’m Garnet, and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with anything to drink?”
He smiled at her. “Well, Garnet, I’ll be honest-I could sure use a good strong cup of coffee.”
She nodded and handed him a menu as she walked away to get the coffee. But before she filled the mug, she poured in about a tablespoon of holy water.
She set it in front of him and hovered, pen over her pad. “Are you ready, sir?”
“Yes, I think I’ll have the chicken fried steak, with green beans and mashed potatoes, please.”
She nodded and wrote it down, and bent over the table to get napkins, deliberately letting her necklace fall out of her shirt.
He blinked. “That’s an unusual necklace, Garnet. How did you come by it?”
“Do you like it?” she smiled, playing innocent. “My friend gave it to me.”
“I do like it. What’s it made of, iron and silver?”
“Yes,” she smiled broader. “It’s heavy, but it’s really pretty.”
“Really powerful, too. Do you know what that symbol means?”
“It’s protection, isn’t it?”
“Yes, protection against demons, and especially against possession. Do you mind my asking why your friend gave it to you?”
“Do you mind if I ask you why you’re interested?” she asked conversationally.
“It’s just an unusual design for that kind of charm, and I don’t see many people wear them.”
She nodded. This guy was good. “He made it so I wouldn’t be possessed.”
“Made it?”
“Yes, he’s a jeweler.”
“Did he have a specific reason for wanting to protect you-other than friendship, I mean?”
She nodded. “I’ll get your order to the kitchen.”
“I don’t mean to pry, Garnet. I’m just curious.”
“You’re not prying, but you’ll be hungry if I don’t get this in.” She chuckled. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Garnet.”
“It’s him,” she reported to Jim as she handed over his order. “He wants to talk more.”
Jim nodded. “Be careful. We don’t know what he’s after for sure.”
“I’ll see if I can find out.”
“Okay. This’ll take about ten.”
A nod, and Garnet took a deep breath. Plastering the smile on, she went back out. “Okay, your order is in.”
Campbell smiled back at her. “So, see many demons around here, do you?”
She laughed - genuinely. “Fewer than you’d expect.”
“So why the necklace?”
“Never hurts to be prepared.”
“No, I suppose not.” He looked at her for a moment. “Tell me, Garnet... why do you think there aren’t many demons around here? Not that I’m the kind of guy who sees demons around every corner, but... I’m curious.”
“Well, I’ve not seen any in years.”
“How many years?”
She thought. How many years had it been since Josh had been possessed and then her father left town? “Over ten.”
“Yet you still wear that necklace.”
“Would you like it?”
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to take it from you. I would like to know who made it, though, maybe ask him to make me one.”
She smiled. “Promise you’ll finish your meal and not skin outta here?”‘
His stomach answered for him, and he laughed. “Yeah, I promise.”
“Robichaux’s. Now eat.”
Jim had been listening. He picked up the phone and alerted Robichaux.
“Robichaux’s? Where’s that?”
“Time for that after you eat.”
“Fair enough. Thank you, Garnet.”
“You’re very welcome... uh....” Even though she knew his name. Wouldn’t do to give away the game.
“Oh, I’m sorry! Samuel.”
“Samuel.”
As Garnet went back to the kitchen to pick up Campbell’s order, she couldn’t help noticing that the radio started playing a song she hadn’t heard on that station very often, a song about a man trying to find someone somewhere in Texas... “Five o’clock in the Texas morning, and I’ve come a long, long way.” Campbell looked a little wistful when she brought him his plate.
“That is a pretty song,” she said with a smile.
He smiled back. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. Say, does Nesmith still tour at all?”
“Intermittently.”
“Is he still with the First National Band, or is he completely solo now?”
“Completely solo.”
“I see. Sorry, I’m... kind of out of the loop when it comes to music these days.”
“No worries, most music nowadays is crap served on top of crap with a topping of more crap.”
He laughed. So did she.
“This looks excellent, Garnet. Thank you.”
“Enjoy.” She looked at his hand. “Married?”
His smile turned a little rueful. “Widowed.”
“I’m sorry. Any children?”
“One. She’s gone, too. Think I’ve got grandchildren somewhere, but I... lost touch with Mary a long time ago, before they were born. No idea where they are now.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said even as her inner bullshit meter was screaming full force.
He hesitated. “Actually... I... heard a rumor they might be here. Brothers, last name of Winchester.”
“Aaaahhh....” She smiled.
He raised an eyebrow. “Does that sound familiar?”
“The whole town knows the Winchester brothers.” A subtle warning to him.
And he caught it. “I see. Thank you, Garnet.”
“Anything else?”
“That’ll be all for now. Thank you.”
“If you need anything, just call me.”
“I’ll do that.”
She moved to the kitchen and watched him. He ate quietly, thoughtfully, watching people like a practiced hunter but not giving away much of anything else. When he’d cleaned his plate, he sat looking out the window until Garnet brought him his check.
“Any dessert?”
“No, thank you, Garnet, that filled me up.” He smiled and handed her a credit card. “When you come back, could you give me directions to Robichaux’s?”
“I will.”
“Thanks.”
She held it up to Jim when she got to the register. “Samuel Cartwright.”
Jim snorted. “Bonanza fan, huh?”
“Seems to be.”
“I’ll pass the word.”
“Thanks.” She ran the card and moved to the table again. “Will that be all, sir?”
“As long as I know where I’m going from here,” Campbell replied.
“Ten blocks west and four streets north,” she said, deliberately giving directions hunter-style. “Blue clapboard building. Two stories.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Garnet. You’ve helped me a lot.”
“I hope so.”
He smiled and left. And she called Dean as she cleaned the table.
“Did you get much?” Dean asked.
“His daughter Mary has something to do with it. He talks about you with contempt.”
Dean snorted. “Hell, he doesn’t even know us.”
“That’s what he said. He’s on his way to Josh’s dad’s.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“He’s cold.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m used to our Hunters. He’s not like them. He.... He feels like Walker.”
“Crazy like Walker?”
“Cold like Walker.”
“Okay. Thanks, Garnet.”
“Anything else I can do to help?”
“Not right now, but we’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.” She hung up.
Jacques Robichaux looked up and smiled brightly at the man entering his shop, whom he suspected was Campbell. “Good day, sir! How can I help you?”
“Hi! I understand that you make anti-possession charms.”
“Yes, sir! I have a selection.”
“Show me what you’ve got, then, please.”
He placed them on the counter.
Campbell examined one pendant carefully and frowned when he saw the engraving on the back. “Do you... have a magnifying glass I could borrow?”
“I have a jeweler’s eyepiece.” He handed it over.
“Thanks.” Campbell fitted it to his eye and read under his breath, “In Nomen Iesu Christi... the hell....” He set the pendant down and examined the other necklaces, growing more and more confused as he encountered the name of Christ on all of them.
“Is something amiss, sir?”
“I’m... afraid these inscriptions confuse me-not that my Latin is rusty, but....”
“What’s confusing?”
“‘In the name of Jesus Christ, no harm shall come to him who wears this’? That’s something I’d expect on a miraculous medal, not... something like these.”
“How better to protect?”
“Does it work?”
“Marvelously.”
“Huh.” Campbell handed back the eyepiece. “Do you mind my asking... whose idea was this?”
“Mine.” He smiled.
Campbell frowned a little. “No offense, but you don’t exactly look like a hunter.”
“And you don’t exactly look like a man innocently curious.”
“Look, I’ve heard my grandsons are in this town. I want to make sure they’re safe.”
Robichaux just looked at him. “If they’re in this town? They’re safe.”
“Now, why is that? I hear there hasn’t been a demon in these parts in over ten years. Is it just because people wear these?”
“Do you speak Spanish, sir?”
“Si, un poquito.”
“Think. What does Cazadore mean?”
“Cazador-hunter.”
“Oui.”
“Everyone in town is a hunter? I find that hard to believe.”
“I didn’t say that,” Robicheaux smiled. “Not everyone.”
Campbell looked at him oddly. “How many hunters would you say there are in this town?”
He looked toward the ceiling, thinking. “... perhaps... 500?”
Campbell stared. “Five hundred hunters in one place? How the hell do they keep from killing each other?”
“Now it is I that does not understand, sir.”
“Look, I’ve been doin’ this for over fifty years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to never trust a hunter outside my own family. The ones who aren’t born to it... most of ’em aren’t all that stable.”
“Welcome to Cazadore,” a strange voice said behind Campbell.
He turned. “Who the hell are you?”
Robichaux beamed. “This is my son, Joshua.”
Campbell looked him over and offered his hand. “Samuel Cartwright.”
Josh took the hand, then looked into his eyes. “You’re lying to me.”
Campbell frowned. “Sorry?”
“You’re lying about your last name.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re no more named Cartwright than I am.”
“You psychic, son?”
“And a cop.”
“Huh. Must come in handy. So what’s it like to be the law in a place like Cazadore?”
“Well, it’s never boring.”
Campbell chuckled. “This many hunters in one place, I’m not surprised.”
“You have a rather low opinion of us.”
“... of us? You’re a hunter?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Explain it to me, then. Most of the hunters I’ve known, I couldn’t trust as far as I could throw ’em. What makes this bunch so different?”
“We’re organized. We all came into this at the same time - mostly - and we’ve been trained by lifelong hunters.”
“All at the same time? Why?”
Father and son’s eyes met and the father nodded. Josh sighed and met his eyes. “I was possessed.”
Campbell blinked. “Why?”
“That’s a long story. They exorcised me in public and the entire town became aware and rallied around us all.”
“They? Who’s they?”
“Your grandsons.”
Campbell’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. “No-no, Mary left... are you telling me that damned fool Winchester raised my grandsons as hunters?”
“No, sir,” he said. “I’m saying your grandsons raised themselves as hunters. They moved here when I was 12 and I was possessed shortly after my 13th birthday.”
“And how old are you now?”
“I’m 25.”
Campbell crossed his arms and did the math. “And there hasn’t been a demon seen around here since.”
“Not in Cazadore.”
“Because there are 500 hunters in this town.”
“Let me show you around.”
“Please do, because I am lost.”
They headed out, walking the downtown. He pointed out the town’s drawing cards that had nothing to do with the supernatural on first glance. Closer examination, however, revealed all kinds of hidden symbols-crosses, devil’s traps, Enochian sigils, even a few that Campbell didn’t recognize.
“You enjoying our architecture?” Josh asked.
Campbell nodded, bemused. “It’s... unique.”
“Thank you! So is this town.”
“I’m noticing that.”
“This is good, though.”
“Is it?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Look, my family’s been hunting since the thirteenth century. Not once in all our family lore has anyone mentioned this kind of solidarity, cordiality, whatever the hell you want to call it among hunters. So forgive me for being a little suspicious about all this.”
“No forgiveness needed.”
Campbell blinked. “What?”
“You’re not used to this. I get that.”
“... You do?”
“I do. I’m just askin’ for a little suspension of disbelief.”
“Disbelief in the right things is what keeps hunters alive, son.”
“Disbelief in the wrong things is what keeps hunters alone and suspicious and angry.”
“What wrong things?”
“Love. Faith. Family.”
“Love and family I can see. Faith is for civilians.”
“That’s your error, sir.”
“How so? You know what’s out there.”
“I do.”
“How can you face that much evil and still believe in a good God?”
He smiled. “Because I have a family that shows me Him every day.”
Campbell shook his head. “God’s gone, Josh. You’re deluding yourself.”
“Am I? Or are you deluding yourself into thinking that He’s gone because you’re so angry at him for taking your child?”
“You have no right to say that to me. And I have it on good authority.”
“Let me guess. An angel named Uriel.”
“How did you know?”
“We’ve had dealings with his superior.”
“Dealings? What do you mean?”
“He attacked us.”
“Why would an angel attack a town full of hunters?”
“Fallen angel.”
The color drained from Campbell’s face once more. “Are you certain?”
“Absolutely.” There was absolute conviction in his voice.
“How do you know?”
“Because no unfallen angel would attack my friends to get them to do a demon’s bidding.”
“What demon?”
“Azazel.”
Campbell swore. “Who was he after?”
“Sam.”
“Sam who?”
Josh’s chin rose. “Sam Winchester.”
Campbell swore more loudly and bitterly. “So that’s what he wanted from Mary.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your dad, though-he swore Sam was safe.”
Josh frowned at him. “When?”
“We were talking about those charms he’s made. I told him I wanted to make sure my grandsons are safe, and he said, ‘If they’re here, they’re safe.’”
Josh nodded. “Yes. They’re safe here. Because we keep them safe.”
“I don’t understand. I know Azazel-how the hell do you fight something that strong?”
“We didn’t just fight him.” Josh smiled. “Dean killed him.”
Campbell stared. “How?!”
“With an antique Colt.”
“Oh, now I know you’re lying to me. The Colt is a myth.”
“Really? Blew him away in front of the whole town at his wedding.”
“Must not have been a true demon.”
“It was Azazel.”
“How do you know?”
“Golden eyes.”
Campbell swallowed hard and shook his head. “No... no, I... I can’t believe that. This doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Look, Josh, I, uh... think I’d better go check into the motel and sleep on this.”
“Certainly. Are you in the Starlight?”
“Hadn’t decided yet. Is the Starlight good?”
“It’s the best.”
“Guess I will go there, then. Thanks.”
“Say hello to the day manager.” He grinned. “She is your granddaughter after all.”
“... My granddaughter?!”
“Yes, indeed.” He clapped Samuel on the shoulder. “Have a good night.”
“Same to you,” Campbell replied, sounding dazed.
The Starlight was a two-star hotel. Tricia looked up and smiled. “Hello, welcome to the Starlight.”
The man fitting Gabriel’s description of Samuel Campbell smiled tiredly at her. “Hello-Tricia,” he said, obviously reading her nametag. “Room for one, please.”
“Certainly. Room 112.”
She leaned forward to pass him the key and he saw the words ‘Day Manager’ under her name.
He also noticed the rings she was wearing. “You married?”
“Yes, sir. I am.”
“Mind if I ask who the lucky fella might be?”
Love shone on her face. “Sam Winchester.”
“Well, I’ll be. You are my granddaughter!”
“Hello, Mr. ... Campbell.” She checked the name on his registration.
“Listen, I’m going to be in town for a few days. Would you let Sam know? I’d love to get together sometime.”
“I will. Thank God tonight’s almost over.” She nodded suddenly and her smile was more genuine.
“Do you and Sam have plans for tonight? I could take you both out for dinner.”
Her face started to harden. “Just... me and Sam?”
He shrugged. “Any reason why not?”
“Dean and his wife will want to see you.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize they were still in town. Of course! Yes, I definitely want to see them, too.”
“I will ask.”
“Fair enough, and you know where to reach me.” He smiled at her. “Thanks, Tricia.” He took his key and left.
She got right on her cell.
“What do you think, babe?” Sam asked when she explained the situation.
“Might be best.”
“Okay. Let me check with Dean-and do you think the Coopers would want to join us, too?”
“Yeah.”
She could almost hear Sam grin. “Okay. I’ll make arrangements-and reservations.”
“Good! Love you!”
“Love you, sweetheart. I’ll call back in 15 or so.”
She hung up.
Three hours later, a double rap sounded on Samuel’s door. There was a beat, then another double knock.
“Who is it?” he called, a hand resting on his gun even though he was expecting Tricia.
“Dean.”
Samuel blinked and opened the door.
And found himself looking at Mary made male.
“Good night, Irene,” he breathed.
“No, it’s Dean,” he quipped and his lips parted in her slightly fanged smile.
Samuel chuckled in spite of himself. “Well, Dean, I’m your Grandpa Samuel. And you look exactly like your mother.”
“It’s been said.” He smiled. “Can we come in?”
“Of course, of course.” Samuel stepped back to let his grandsons and their wives into the room.
Sam was... huge. There was no other word for it. But his eyes and smile were warm and gentle. Tricia looked tiny next to him... but not quite as tiny as Dean’s wife.
“This is Daphne,” he smiled. “My wife.”
Samuel nodded. “Good to meet you, Daphne.”
“Grandfather,” she smiled.
“I have to confess, you kids look nothing like what I’d pictured.”
“Oh?” they said together.
“Your dad’s so dark, I’d thought you’d favor him more.”
Sam grinned. “No, our mother’s DNA won out.”
“Obviously. No mistaking you for anything but Campbells.”
“Winchesters,” they said together.
“I’ll grant that’s your birth name, but you’re in our family business; you look like our family; and I gather you’ve cut your ties to your father. That makes you Campbells in my book.”
“We cut ties,” Dean nodded. “But they’ve been retied.”
“Why?”
“His quest is over,” Sam said. “Azazel is dead and Mom is avenged.”
Samuel looked at him for a moment. “He loved her that much, huh?”
All four nodded.
He sighed and sat down on the bed. “You have no idea how I screamed and clawed, trying to warn Mary not to take Azazel’s deal. Not just because I didn’t like your dad, didn’t want Mary marrying a civilian, but that kind of deal... I knew there was a catch, just couldn’t figure out what it was. But Azazel was too strong for me.”
“He’s barely a civilian now,” Dean smiled.
“Self-taught, I’m sure. Wouldn’t have bothered to come to our side of the family for help.”
“Uhm,” Dean said. “He came. The Campbells turned him out.”
Samuel frowned. “What? Why?”
“We don’t know,” they chorused.
“That... huh. Who did mentor him?”
“Bobby Singer and Rufus Turner.”
“Turner... sounds vaguely familiar. Singer’s not a name I recognize.”
Sam smiled. “Yeah, they’re based out of South Dakota.”
“Ah. I never got up to the Dakotas much; after Mary was born, Deanna and I mostly stayed in the central part of the Midwest unless there was an emergency further out.”
“And we were raised all over until Dean was 16.”
Samuel gave Dean a more critical once-over. “What happened? Did John kick you out?”
Dean snorted. “The opposite.”
“Huh. Sounds like you got your mama’s brains as well as her looks.”
“No,” Dean waved it off. “I just had to get Sam away from that.”
“I don’t blame you, son. John was a nice kid, but I never thought he was a good match for Mary-hell, for the first year they knew each other, she didn’t even like him that much. Looks like you turned out okay, though, in spite of everything.”
“Dad did the best he could,” Dean defended.
Samuel shrugged. “I’m sure he did. I... just wish I’d been here for you, that’s all. Maybe we could have stopped Azazel sooner. Maybe we could have even saved Mary,” he added more quietly, mostly to himself.
“Mom was murdered when I was four and Sammy was six months,” Dean said. “We couldn’t have saved her.”
Samuel sighed. “Guess it’s no good talking about hypotheticals. We’re here now. So,” he continued more brightly, “what’s the plan for this evening?”
“We were going out for dinner, but we can order in,” Daphne said.
“Out is fine with me. Where are we headed?”
“Maggie’s?” Tricia asked.
“Sounds good. I’ll follow you.”
When they got to the diner, Garnet smiled, seeing them all come in.
Samuel frowned. “Do you work here all the time?”
“Double shift today.”
“I see. Well, Garnet, is that big round table in the back corner free? I think we’ve got too many for a booth.”
Her smile said it all. “Head on over.”
Samuel nodded, but it was Dean who took the lead, ushering Daphne ahead of Samuel. Sam and Tricia insisted on letting Samuel go ahead of them, though. And Samuel got the distinct sense that he was being guarded somehow.
Then he saw both his grandsons’ hands move. They were talking with hand signals. At very rapid speed.
He tensed. “Something wrong, boys?”
“What?” they spoke in unison and smiled. “No,” Sam said.
“So why....” He motioned between them.
“Why what?” Dean asked as they sat down.
“Why the hand signals?”
“It’s ASL, Grandpa.”
He looked from one grandson to the other. “You’re... you’re not deaf, are you?”
All four shook their heads. Why do people keep asking us that? Dean growled with his hands.
“Sorry, I’m just... not used to people who can hear still speaking with their hands when there’s no danger.”
“This is a town of signers. A lot of us speak ASL.”
“Huh. Guess I’ve got a lot to get used to.”
“You’re not staying, are you?” Daphne asked bluntly.
“I don’t know yet. Probably not for more than a couple of days, but I would like to come back to visit now and again.”
“So long as you’re not doing Uriel’s bidding, you’re welcome here,” Dean said.
Samuel frowned. “That’s the second time Uriel’s come up today. I confess, I hadn’t believed in angels until one was staring me down yesterday morning when I woke up on Elton Ridge, but... why is everyone so nervous about him?”
“I think I can answer that. Hullo, Winchesters all.” A grinning man with light brown hair plopped down right next to Tricia, who squealed in surprise and hugged him quickly.
Dean and Daphne scooted over to allow two other men with startlingly blue eyes, one dark-haired and one platinum blond, to sit down beside them.
Samuel was startled. “And you are?”
“Samuel Campbell,” Dean introduced. “Meet Bill Cooper and his brothers Cas and Mike.”
“Gentlemen,” Samuel nodded.
“Campbell,” Cooper said with a smile. “Hey, Garnet, my usual?”
“Certainly - your brother’s, too?”
“Yes, thank you,” Cas called.
“And you, sir?” she continued, turning to Mike.
Mike looked uncertain. “I suppose I’ll have what... Cas is having.”
She nodded and moved off.
Samuel looked over at Cooper. “You were saying?”
“That your angel buddy is bad news.”
“Care to elaborate on that?”
“He wants to start the Apocalypse, now that it’s been derailed.”
Samuel stared. “Come again?”
Cooper told him about the Apocalypse. Zachariah and Azazel working together.
By the end of the meal, Samuel’s head was spinning. “How the hell do you know all of this?” he finally asked.
“Other than the fact that we lived it?” Cooper asked.
“You weren’t in Lawrence in ’73. You’re too young, for one thing, and I expect I’d have noticed you or your brothers if you had been there. None of you are exactly non-descript.”
“I was there,” Mike said. “Five years later.”
Samuel frowned. “That’s not possible. You don’t look any older than Dean.”
He smiled. “Thank you. But I am older than he is. Much, much older.”
“All us... Coopers... are,” Cas said.
Samuel’s skin crawled, and it was all he could do not to reach for his gun then and there. “What are you?” he demanded quietly.
All eyes looked at Cooper, who smiled. “Well... I’m a Trickster. They’re angels.”
Samuel looked at Mike and Cas, and suddenly it was like a veil had slipped, even though there was no visible change. Uriel had felt powerful, but these two felt far, far more powerful. Then the significance of Mike’s name dawned on him. “Michael,” he breathed.
He nodded with a small smile and lay a hand over Cas’s. “Castiel,” he introduced. And his eyes slid over to Cooper.
“Loki,” Cooper introduced himself.
Samuel swore quietly as his heart rate rose. He was on the edge of fight-or-flight, but he knew he shouldn’t make a scene, and he was neatly trapped between his younger, stronger grandsons at the back of the table. He didn’t know what to think, what to say, what to do.
“Relax,” Sam said, clamping a huge hand over his wrist. “They’re on our side.”
“How do you know, Sam? How the hell can any of you trust anything that comes out of a Trickster’s mouth?”
“Because we’ve known him for over a decade,” Sam smiled. “And he’s shot straight with us all that time.”
Samuel stared at him for a moment. “Let me out.”
“So you can run?” Dean asked pointedly.
“Yes, dammit! I’ve got to get my head around this.”
“Then get it around it.”
“I’m not going to leave town, Dean, not until I’m sure I understand what’s going on here. But you can’t expect me to make sense of it with the Prince of Angels and the Prince of Tricksters staring at me. Let me out! ”
Mike stood. Cas slid out behind him, then Daphne and then Dean.
But Sam kept hold of Samuel’s wrist for a moment. “We’ve told you the truth,” he said quietly. “Uriel’s a liar and a traitor, and he probably didn’t tell you he’s working with the King of the Crossroads. Think all you want, but that’s the way it is.” Then he released his grandfather.
Samuel didn’t jerk away from him. He didn’t slide out of the booth like it was on fire. He didn’t run out of the diner and speed back to the hotel.
But he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to!
It took every ounce of self-control he had to walk out calmly with a nod and a smile for Garnet and another for the Robichaux kid, who happened to be getting out of his patrol car in the parking lot as Samuel went to his truck. But he barely managed to get a block away from the diner before letting loose with a string of profanity that would have peeled paint.
This was NOT what he’d signed up for!
Josh walked in, looking stunned. “What the hell did y’all say to him?!” he hissed as he walked up to the Winchesters and Coopers.
“The truth. Hello, Joshua,” Mike said.
“Hi. Man, is he upset.”
“Well, he’s got to choose who to believe.”
“Yeah. I guess he has.”
“I hope he believes us,” Sam said.
Dean sighed. “Yeah, me, too-mostly because I can’t tell what he’ll do if he doesn’t.”
Tricia shivered.
Sam hugged her tight against his side. “What should we do until we’re sure?”
“Go have fun?”
Sam snorted.
“Castiel,” Mike said quietly, “follow him.”
A nod, and the raven-haired man vanished.
“I believe that is all we can do for now,” Mike continued. “Tomorrow will have challenges enough of its own.”
Next
Chapter 2
Inquiries
It was about 3 PM the next day when a battered green Ford pulled up outside of Maggie’s Diner. Garnet watched the tall, balding driver get out and ducked into the kitchen to check the sketch that John Winchester had asked the local police artist to distribute. It was almost an exact match.
“Jim, call Dean,” she said in a low voice. “Jules, no matter where he sits, I wait on him, got me?”
“Got you,” Jules nodded.
As she got her tools together, part of her wondered how in the hell she got to be the head of Maggie’s Diner’s Supernatural Patrol, but she didn’t spare much thought for that. Sam and Dean trusted her. That was all that mattered. And right now, she needed to get as much information on Samuel Campbell as she could, as discreetly as possible.
She walked up and smiled. “Hey, there. I’m Garnet, and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with anything to drink?”
He smiled at her. “Well, Garnet, I’ll be honest-I could sure use a good strong cup of coffee.”
She nodded and handed him a menu as she walked away to get the coffee. But before she filled the mug, she poured in about a tablespoon of holy water.
She set it in front of him and hovered, pen over her pad. “Are you ready, sir?”
“Yes, I think I’ll have the chicken fried steak, with green beans and mashed potatoes, please.”
She nodded and wrote it down, and bent over the table to get napkins, deliberately letting her necklace fall out of her shirt.
He blinked. “That’s an unusual necklace, Garnet. How did you come by it?”
“Do you like it?” she smiled, playing innocent. “My friend gave it to me.”
“I do like it. What’s it made of, iron and silver?”
“Yes,” she smiled broader. “It’s heavy, but it’s really pretty.”
“Really powerful, too. Do you know what that symbol means?”
“It’s protection, isn’t it?”
“Yes, protection against demons, and especially against possession. Do you mind my asking why your friend gave it to you?”
“Do you mind if I ask you why you’re interested?” she asked conversationally.
“It’s just an unusual design for that kind of charm, and I don’t see many people wear them.”
She nodded. This guy was good. “He made it so I wouldn’t be possessed.”
“Made it?”
“Yes, he’s a jeweler.”
“Did he have a specific reason for wanting to protect you-other than friendship, I mean?”
She nodded. “I’ll get your order to the kitchen.”
“I don’t mean to pry, Garnet. I’m just curious.”
“You’re not prying, but you’ll be hungry if I don’t get this in.” She chuckled. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Garnet.”
“It’s him,” she reported to Jim as she handed over his order. “He wants to talk more.”
Jim nodded. “Be careful. We don’t know what he’s after for sure.”
“I’ll see if I can find out.”
“Okay. This’ll take about ten.”
A nod, and Garnet took a deep breath. Plastering the smile on, she went back out. “Okay, your order is in.”
Campbell smiled back at her. “So, see many demons around here, do you?”
She laughed - genuinely. “Fewer than you’d expect.”
“So why the necklace?”
“Never hurts to be prepared.”
“No, I suppose not.” He looked at her for a moment. “Tell me, Garnet... why do you think there aren’t many demons around here? Not that I’m the kind of guy who sees demons around every corner, but... I’m curious.”
“Well, I’ve not seen any in years.”
“How many years?”
She thought. How many years had it been since Josh had been possessed and then her father left town? “Over ten.”
“Yet you still wear that necklace.”
“Would you like it?”
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to take it from you. I would like to know who made it, though, maybe ask him to make me one.”
She smiled. “Promise you’ll finish your meal and not skin outta here?”‘
His stomach answered for him, and he laughed. “Yeah, I promise.”
“Robichaux’s. Now eat.”
Jim had been listening. He picked up the phone and alerted Robichaux.
“Robichaux’s? Where’s that?”
“Time for that after you eat.”
“Fair enough. Thank you, Garnet.”
“You’re very welcome... uh....” Even though she knew his name. Wouldn’t do to give away the game.
“Oh, I’m sorry! Samuel.”
“Samuel.”
As Garnet went back to the kitchen to pick up Campbell’s order, she couldn’t help noticing that the radio started playing a song she hadn’t heard on that station very often, a song about a man trying to find someone somewhere in Texas... “Five o’clock in the Texas morning, and I’ve come a long, long way.” Campbell looked a little wistful when she brought him his plate.
“That is a pretty song,” she said with a smile.
He smiled back. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. Say, does Nesmith still tour at all?”
“Intermittently.”
“Is he still with the First National Band, or is he completely solo now?”
“Completely solo.”
“I see. Sorry, I’m... kind of out of the loop when it comes to music these days.”
“No worries, most music nowadays is crap served on top of crap with a topping of more crap.”
He laughed. So did she.
“This looks excellent, Garnet. Thank you.”
“Enjoy.” She looked at his hand. “Married?”
His smile turned a little rueful. “Widowed.”
“I’m sorry. Any children?”
“One. She’s gone, too. Think I’ve got grandchildren somewhere, but I... lost touch with Mary a long time ago, before they were born. No idea where they are now.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said even as her inner bullshit meter was screaming full force.
He hesitated. “Actually... I... heard a rumor they might be here. Brothers, last name of Winchester.”
“Aaaahhh....” She smiled.
He raised an eyebrow. “Does that sound familiar?”
“The whole town knows the Winchester brothers.” A subtle warning to him.
And he caught it. “I see. Thank you, Garnet.”
“Anything else?”
“That’ll be all for now. Thank you.”
“If you need anything, just call me.”
“I’ll do that.”
She moved to the kitchen and watched him. He ate quietly, thoughtfully, watching people like a practiced hunter but not giving away much of anything else. When he’d cleaned his plate, he sat looking out the window until Garnet brought him his check.
“Any dessert?”
“No, thank you, Garnet, that filled me up.” He smiled and handed her a credit card. “When you come back, could you give me directions to Robichaux’s?”
“I will.”
“Thanks.”
She held it up to Jim when she got to the register. “Samuel Cartwright.”
Jim snorted. “Bonanza fan, huh?”
“Seems to be.”
“I’ll pass the word.”
“Thanks.” She ran the card and moved to the table again. “Will that be all, sir?”
“As long as I know where I’m going from here,” Campbell replied.
“Ten blocks west and four streets north,” she said, deliberately giving directions hunter-style. “Blue clapboard building. Two stories.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Garnet. You’ve helped me a lot.”
“I hope so.”
He smiled and left. And she called Dean as she cleaned the table.
“Did you get much?” Dean asked.
“His daughter Mary has something to do with it. He talks about you with contempt.”
Dean snorted. “Hell, he doesn’t even know us.”
“That’s what he said. He’s on his way to Josh’s dad’s.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“He’s cold.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m used to our Hunters. He’s not like them. He.... He feels like Walker.”
“Crazy like Walker?”
“Cold like Walker.”
“Okay. Thanks, Garnet.”
“Anything else I can do to help?”
“Not right now, but we’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.” She hung up.
Jacques Robichaux looked up and smiled brightly at the man entering his shop, whom he suspected was Campbell. “Good day, sir! How can I help you?”
“Hi! I understand that you make anti-possession charms.”
“Yes, sir! I have a selection.”
“Show me what you’ve got, then, please.”
He placed them on the counter.
Campbell examined one pendant carefully and frowned when he saw the engraving on the back. “Do you... have a magnifying glass I could borrow?”
“I have a jeweler’s eyepiece.” He handed it over.
“Thanks.” Campbell fitted it to his eye and read under his breath, “In Nomen Iesu Christi... the hell....” He set the pendant down and examined the other necklaces, growing more and more confused as he encountered the name of Christ on all of them.
“Is something amiss, sir?”
“I’m... afraid these inscriptions confuse me-not that my Latin is rusty, but....”
“What’s confusing?”
“‘In the name of Jesus Christ, no harm shall come to him who wears this’? That’s something I’d expect on a miraculous medal, not... something like these.”
“How better to protect?”
“Does it work?”
“Marvelously.”
“Huh.” Campbell handed back the eyepiece. “Do you mind my asking... whose idea was this?”
“Mine.” He smiled.
Campbell frowned a little. “No offense, but you don’t exactly look like a hunter.”
“And you don’t exactly look like a man innocently curious.”
“Look, I’ve heard my grandsons are in this town. I want to make sure they’re safe.”
Robichaux just looked at him. “If they’re in this town? They’re safe.”
“Now, why is that? I hear there hasn’t been a demon in these parts in over ten years. Is it just because people wear these?”
“Do you speak Spanish, sir?”
“Si, un poquito.”
“Think. What does Cazadore mean?”
“Cazador-hunter.”
“Oui.”
“Everyone in town is a hunter? I find that hard to believe.”
“I didn’t say that,” Robicheaux smiled. “Not everyone.”
Campbell looked at him oddly. “How many hunters would you say there are in this town?”
He looked toward the ceiling, thinking. “... perhaps... 500?”
Campbell stared. “Five hundred hunters in one place? How the hell do they keep from killing each other?”
“Now it is I that does not understand, sir.”
“Look, I’ve been doin’ this for over fifty years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to never trust a hunter outside my own family. The ones who aren’t born to it... most of ’em aren’t all that stable.”
“Welcome to Cazadore,” a strange voice said behind Campbell.
He turned. “Who the hell are you?”
Robichaux beamed. “This is my son, Joshua.”
Campbell looked him over and offered his hand. “Samuel Cartwright.”
Josh took the hand, then looked into his eyes. “You’re lying to me.”
Campbell frowned. “Sorry?”
“You’re lying about your last name.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re no more named Cartwright than I am.”
“You psychic, son?”
“And a cop.”
“Huh. Must come in handy. So what’s it like to be the law in a place like Cazadore?”
“Well, it’s never boring.”
Campbell chuckled. “This many hunters in one place, I’m not surprised.”
“You have a rather low opinion of us.”
“... of us? You’re a hunter?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Explain it to me, then. Most of the hunters I’ve known, I couldn’t trust as far as I could throw ’em. What makes this bunch so different?”
“We’re organized. We all came into this at the same time - mostly - and we’ve been trained by lifelong hunters.”
“All at the same time? Why?”
Father and son’s eyes met and the father nodded. Josh sighed and met his eyes. “I was possessed.”
Campbell blinked. “Why?”
“That’s a long story. They exorcised me in public and the entire town became aware and rallied around us all.”
“They? Who’s they?”
“Your grandsons.”
Campbell’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. “No-no, Mary left... are you telling me that damned fool Winchester raised my grandsons as hunters?”
“No, sir,” he said. “I’m saying your grandsons raised themselves as hunters. They moved here when I was 12 and I was possessed shortly after my 13th birthday.”
“And how old are you now?”
“I’m 25.”
Campbell crossed his arms and did the math. “And there hasn’t been a demon seen around here since.”
“Not in Cazadore.”
“Because there are 500 hunters in this town.”
“Let me show you around.”
“Please do, because I am lost.”
They headed out, walking the downtown. He pointed out the town’s drawing cards that had nothing to do with the supernatural on first glance. Closer examination, however, revealed all kinds of hidden symbols-crosses, devil’s traps, Enochian sigils, even a few that Campbell didn’t recognize.
“You enjoying our architecture?” Josh asked.
Campbell nodded, bemused. “It’s... unique.”
“Thank you! So is this town.”
“I’m noticing that.”
“This is good, though.”
“Is it?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Look, my family’s been hunting since the thirteenth century. Not once in all our family lore has anyone mentioned this kind of solidarity, cordiality, whatever the hell you want to call it among hunters. So forgive me for being a little suspicious about all this.”
“No forgiveness needed.”
Campbell blinked. “What?”
“You’re not used to this. I get that.”
“... You do?”
“I do. I’m just askin’ for a little suspension of disbelief.”
“Disbelief in the right things is what keeps hunters alive, son.”
“Disbelief in the wrong things is what keeps hunters alone and suspicious and angry.”
“What wrong things?”
“Love. Faith. Family.”
“Love and family I can see. Faith is for civilians.”
“That’s your error, sir.”
“How so? You know what’s out there.”
“I do.”
“How can you face that much evil and still believe in a good God?”
He smiled. “Because I have a family that shows me Him every day.”
Campbell shook his head. “God’s gone, Josh. You’re deluding yourself.”
“Am I? Or are you deluding yourself into thinking that He’s gone because you’re so angry at him for taking your child?”
“You have no right to say that to me. And I have it on good authority.”
“Let me guess. An angel named Uriel.”
“How did you know?”
“We’ve had dealings with his superior.”
“Dealings? What do you mean?”
“He attacked us.”
“Why would an angel attack a town full of hunters?”
“Fallen angel.”
The color drained from Campbell’s face once more. “Are you certain?”
“Absolutely.” There was absolute conviction in his voice.
“How do you know?”
“Because no unfallen angel would attack my friends to get them to do a demon’s bidding.”
“What demon?”
“Azazel.”
Campbell swore. “Who was he after?”
“Sam.”
“Sam who?”
Josh’s chin rose. “Sam Winchester.”
Campbell swore more loudly and bitterly. “So that’s what he wanted from Mary.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your dad, though-he swore Sam was safe.”
Josh frowned at him. “When?”
“We were talking about those charms he’s made. I told him I wanted to make sure my grandsons are safe, and he said, ‘If they’re here, they’re safe.’”
Josh nodded. “Yes. They’re safe here. Because we keep them safe.”
“I don’t understand. I know Azazel-how the hell do you fight something that strong?”
“We didn’t just fight him.” Josh smiled. “Dean killed him.”
Campbell stared. “How?!”
“With an antique Colt.”
“Oh, now I know you’re lying to me. The Colt is a myth.”
“Really? Blew him away in front of the whole town at his wedding.”
“Must not have been a true demon.”
“It was Azazel.”
“How do you know?”
“Golden eyes.”
Campbell swallowed hard and shook his head. “No... no, I... I can’t believe that. This doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Look, Josh, I, uh... think I’d better go check into the motel and sleep on this.”
“Certainly. Are you in the Starlight?”
“Hadn’t decided yet. Is the Starlight good?”
“It’s the best.”
“Guess I will go there, then. Thanks.”
“Say hello to the day manager.” He grinned. “She is your granddaughter after all.”
“... My granddaughter?!”
“Yes, indeed.” He clapped Samuel on the shoulder. “Have a good night.”
“Same to you,” Campbell replied, sounding dazed.
The Starlight was a two-star hotel. Tricia looked up and smiled. “Hello, welcome to the Starlight.”
The man fitting Gabriel’s description of Samuel Campbell smiled tiredly at her. “Hello-Tricia,” he said, obviously reading her nametag. “Room for one, please.”
“Certainly. Room 112.”
She leaned forward to pass him the key and he saw the words ‘Day Manager’ under her name.
He also noticed the rings she was wearing. “You married?”
“Yes, sir. I am.”
“Mind if I ask who the lucky fella might be?”
Love shone on her face. “Sam Winchester.”
“Well, I’ll be. You are my granddaughter!”
“Hello, Mr. ... Campbell.” She checked the name on his registration.
“Listen, I’m going to be in town for a few days. Would you let Sam know? I’d love to get together sometime.”
“I will. Thank God tonight’s almost over.” She nodded suddenly and her smile was more genuine.
“Do you and Sam have plans for tonight? I could take you both out for dinner.”
Her face started to harden. “Just... me and Sam?”
He shrugged. “Any reason why not?”
“Dean and his wife will want to see you.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize they were still in town. Of course! Yes, I definitely want to see them, too.”
“I will ask.”
“Fair enough, and you know where to reach me.” He smiled at her. “Thanks, Tricia.” He took his key and left.
She got right on her cell.
“What do you think, babe?” Sam asked when she explained the situation.
“Might be best.”
“Okay. Let me check with Dean-and do you think the Coopers would want to join us, too?”
“Yeah.”
She could almost hear Sam grin. “Okay. I’ll make arrangements-and reservations.”
“Good! Love you!”
“Love you, sweetheart. I’ll call back in 15 or so.”
She hung up.
Three hours later, a double rap sounded on Samuel’s door. There was a beat, then another double knock.
“Who is it?” he called, a hand resting on his gun even though he was expecting Tricia.
“Dean.”
Samuel blinked and opened the door.
And found himself looking at Mary made male.
“Good night, Irene,” he breathed.
“No, it’s Dean,” he quipped and his lips parted in her slightly fanged smile.
Samuel chuckled in spite of himself. “Well, Dean, I’m your Grandpa Samuel. And you look exactly like your mother.”
“It’s been said.” He smiled. “Can we come in?”
“Of course, of course.” Samuel stepped back to let his grandsons and their wives into the room.
Sam was... huge. There was no other word for it. But his eyes and smile were warm and gentle. Tricia looked tiny next to him... but not quite as tiny as Dean’s wife.
“This is Daphne,” he smiled. “My wife.”
Samuel nodded. “Good to meet you, Daphne.”
“Grandfather,” she smiled.
“I have to confess, you kids look nothing like what I’d pictured.”
“Oh?” they said together.
“Your dad’s so dark, I’d thought you’d favor him more.”
Sam grinned. “No, our mother’s DNA won out.”
“Obviously. No mistaking you for anything but Campbells.”
“Winchesters,” they said together.
“I’ll grant that’s your birth name, but you’re in our family business; you look like our family; and I gather you’ve cut your ties to your father. That makes you Campbells in my book.”
“We cut ties,” Dean nodded. “But they’ve been retied.”
“Why?”
“His quest is over,” Sam said. “Azazel is dead and Mom is avenged.”
Samuel looked at him for a moment. “He loved her that much, huh?”
All four nodded.
He sighed and sat down on the bed. “You have no idea how I screamed and clawed, trying to warn Mary not to take Azazel’s deal. Not just because I didn’t like your dad, didn’t want Mary marrying a civilian, but that kind of deal... I knew there was a catch, just couldn’t figure out what it was. But Azazel was too strong for me.”
“He’s barely a civilian now,” Dean smiled.
“Self-taught, I’m sure. Wouldn’t have bothered to come to our side of the family for help.”
“Uhm,” Dean said. “He came. The Campbells turned him out.”
Samuel frowned. “What? Why?”
“We don’t know,” they chorused.
“That... huh. Who did mentor him?”
“Bobby Singer and Rufus Turner.”
“Turner... sounds vaguely familiar. Singer’s not a name I recognize.”
Sam smiled. “Yeah, they’re based out of South Dakota.”
“Ah. I never got up to the Dakotas much; after Mary was born, Deanna and I mostly stayed in the central part of the Midwest unless there was an emergency further out.”
“And we were raised all over until Dean was 16.”
Samuel gave Dean a more critical once-over. “What happened? Did John kick you out?”
Dean snorted. “The opposite.”
“Huh. Sounds like you got your mama’s brains as well as her looks.”
“No,” Dean waved it off. “I just had to get Sam away from that.”
“I don’t blame you, son. John was a nice kid, but I never thought he was a good match for Mary-hell, for the first year they knew each other, she didn’t even like him that much. Looks like you turned out okay, though, in spite of everything.”
“Dad did the best he could,” Dean defended.
Samuel shrugged. “I’m sure he did. I... just wish I’d been here for you, that’s all. Maybe we could have stopped Azazel sooner. Maybe we could have even saved Mary,” he added more quietly, mostly to himself.
“Mom was murdered when I was four and Sammy was six months,” Dean said. “We couldn’t have saved her.”
Samuel sighed. “Guess it’s no good talking about hypotheticals. We’re here now. So,” he continued more brightly, “what’s the plan for this evening?”
“We were going out for dinner, but we can order in,” Daphne said.
“Out is fine with me. Where are we headed?”
“Maggie’s?” Tricia asked.
“Sounds good. I’ll follow you.”
When they got to the diner, Garnet smiled, seeing them all come in.
Samuel frowned. “Do you work here all the time?”
“Double shift today.”
“I see. Well, Garnet, is that big round table in the back corner free? I think we’ve got too many for a booth.”
Her smile said it all. “Head on over.”
Samuel nodded, but it was Dean who took the lead, ushering Daphne ahead of Samuel. Sam and Tricia insisted on letting Samuel go ahead of them, though. And Samuel got the distinct sense that he was being guarded somehow.
Then he saw both his grandsons’ hands move. They were talking with hand signals. At very rapid speed.
He tensed. “Something wrong, boys?”
“What?” they spoke in unison and smiled. “No,” Sam said.
“So why....” He motioned between them.
“Why what?” Dean asked as they sat down.
“Why the hand signals?”
“It’s ASL, Grandpa.”
He looked from one grandson to the other. “You’re... you’re not deaf, are you?”
All four shook their heads. Why do people keep asking us that? Dean growled with his hands.
“Sorry, I’m just... not used to people who can hear still speaking with their hands when there’s no danger.”
“This is a town of signers. A lot of us speak ASL.”
“Huh. Guess I’ve got a lot to get used to.”
“You’re not staying, are you?” Daphne asked bluntly.
“I don’t know yet. Probably not for more than a couple of days, but I would like to come back to visit now and again.”
“So long as you’re not doing Uriel’s bidding, you’re welcome here,” Dean said.
Samuel frowned. “That’s the second time Uriel’s come up today. I confess, I hadn’t believed in angels until one was staring me down yesterday morning when I woke up on Elton Ridge, but... why is everyone so nervous about him?”
“I think I can answer that. Hullo, Winchesters all.” A grinning man with light brown hair plopped down right next to Tricia, who squealed in surprise and hugged him quickly.
Dean and Daphne scooted over to allow two other men with startlingly blue eyes, one dark-haired and one platinum blond, to sit down beside them.
Samuel was startled. “And you are?”
“Samuel Campbell,” Dean introduced. “Meet Bill Cooper and his brothers Cas and Mike.”
“Gentlemen,” Samuel nodded.
“Campbell,” Cooper said with a smile. “Hey, Garnet, my usual?”
“Certainly - your brother’s, too?”
“Yes, thank you,” Cas called.
“And you, sir?” she continued, turning to Mike.
Mike looked uncertain. “I suppose I’ll have what... Cas is having.”
She nodded and moved off.
Samuel looked over at Cooper. “You were saying?”
“That your angel buddy is bad news.”
“Care to elaborate on that?”
“He wants to start the Apocalypse, now that it’s been derailed.”
Samuel stared. “Come again?”
Cooper told him about the Apocalypse. Zachariah and Azazel working together.
By the end of the meal, Samuel’s head was spinning. “How the hell do you know all of this?” he finally asked.
“Other than the fact that we lived it?” Cooper asked.
“You weren’t in Lawrence in ’73. You’re too young, for one thing, and I expect I’d have noticed you or your brothers if you had been there. None of you are exactly non-descript.”
“I was there,” Mike said. “Five years later.”
Samuel frowned. “That’s not possible. You don’t look any older than Dean.”
He smiled. “Thank you. But I am older than he is. Much, much older.”
“All us... Coopers... are,” Cas said.
Samuel’s skin crawled, and it was all he could do not to reach for his gun then and there. “What are you?” he demanded quietly.
All eyes looked at Cooper, who smiled. “Well... I’m a Trickster. They’re angels.”
Samuel looked at Mike and Cas, and suddenly it was like a veil had slipped, even though there was no visible change. Uriel had felt powerful, but these two felt far, far more powerful. Then the significance of Mike’s name dawned on him. “Michael,” he breathed.
He nodded with a small smile and lay a hand over Cas’s. “Castiel,” he introduced. And his eyes slid over to Cooper.
“Loki,” Cooper introduced himself.
Samuel swore quietly as his heart rate rose. He was on the edge of fight-or-flight, but he knew he shouldn’t make a scene, and he was neatly trapped between his younger, stronger grandsons at the back of the table. He didn’t know what to think, what to say, what to do.
“Relax,” Sam said, clamping a huge hand over his wrist. “They’re on our side.”
“How do you know, Sam? How the hell can any of you trust anything that comes out of a Trickster’s mouth?”
“Because we’ve known him for over a decade,” Sam smiled. “And he’s shot straight with us all that time.”
Samuel stared at him for a moment. “Let me out.”
“So you can run?” Dean asked pointedly.
“Yes, dammit! I’ve got to get my head around this.”
“Then get it around it.”
“I’m not going to leave town, Dean, not until I’m sure I understand what’s going on here. But you can’t expect me to make sense of it with the Prince of Angels and the Prince of Tricksters staring at me. Let me out! ”
Mike stood. Cas slid out behind him, then Daphne and then Dean.
But Sam kept hold of Samuel’s wrist for a moment. “We’ve told you the truth,” he said quietly. “Uriel’s a liar and a traitor, and he probably didn’t tell you he’s working with the King of the Crossroads. Think all you want, but that’s the way it is.” Then he released his grandfather.
Samuel didn’t jerk away from him. He didn’t slide out of the booth like it was on fire. He didn’t run out of the diner and speed back to the hotel.
But he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to!
It took every ounce of self-control he had to walk out calmly with a nod and a smile for Garnet and another for the Robichaux kid, who happened to be getting out of his patrol car in the parking lot as Samuel went to his truck. But he barely managed to get a block away from the diner before letting loose with a string of profanity that would have peeled paint.
This was NOT what he’d signed up for!
Josh walked in, looking stunned. “What the hell did y’all say to him?!” he hissed as he walked up to the Winchesters and Coopers.
“The truth. Hello, Joshua,” Mike said.
“Hi. Man, is he upset.”
“Well, he’s got to choose who to believe.”
“Yeah. I guess he has.”
“I hope he believes us,” Sam said.
Dean sighed. “Yeah, me, too-mostly because I can’t tell what he’ll do if he doesn’t.”
Tricia shivered.
Sam hugged her tight against his side. “What should we do until we’re sure?”
“Go have fun?”
Sam snorted.
“Castiel,” Mike said quietly, “follow him.”
A nod, and the raven-haired man vanished.
“I believe that is all we can do for now,” Mike continued. “Tomorrow will have challenges enough of its own.”
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