The End | {BOOK 5}

35| The Spear and The Egg

Kaia explained how Michael showed up and offered to let her join him, if she turned the spear over to him. They had ended up fighting, which was how he ended up with the scar on his arm.

"STOP!" Dean yelled and I flinched.

"You remember now?" Kaia asked.

"So Michael wants the spear because he knows it can hurt him?" Sam asked. "And that's why his monsters are coming after you?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Dean, we should get out of here."

"Ah, guys," Jody said, leaving my side momentarily to peek out the window, "it's too late."

Three vampires entered the cabin.

"We only came for her, but I was never one to turn down a buffet," one vamp said, gesturing to Kaia.

A violent fight broke out following his statement, and Dean ended up freeing Kaia from the chair. Sam, Dean and Jody each took a vamp while I continued to hang back by the wall, not trusting myself to fight. Kaia returned with the spear a minute later and took down all three vamps.

"You saved us," Jody said, babying a broken arm from the fight. "You didn't have to."

"I came back for them, not you."

"You know as long as you have that spear you're going to be a target for Michael, his monsters," Sam told her. "They'll keep chasing you."

"I'm used to it."

She left then, and the four of us made our way out to the cars.

"Jody," Dean began.

"Dean Winchester, you have nothing to apologize for," she cut him off.

"How is the arm?" he asked.

"You sure you don't want a ride to the hospital, or..." Sam trailed off.

"I've driven with a broken arm before. I'm more worried about what I'm gonna tell Alex when I get there. And then once I get home..."

"Claire," I swallowed.

"I'm dreading those consequences," Jody grimaced. "She's got to know, she's got to know that Kaia's killer is still out there."

"You alright?"

"It's just seeing her face again. Raising three hunters and fearing every day that I might lose one of them. I didn't even really get a chance to know Kaia before she died- just feel like I already lost before I even ever began."

After giving Jody hugs goodbye, we climbed into the Impala and started back for the Bunker.

"I put us all in danger today. Stupid danger," Dean broke the silence after a little while.

"Dean," Sam began.

"You were right," Dean continued, looking over at Sam. "I just didn't want to look at it, what Michael used me for. I just wanted to race ahead. You know, skip to the end of the story, the part where I get the weapon and I take out the bad guy. The part where I kill Michael."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know I said yes to him because I thought: it was stupid. I was stupid."

"Dean, you did what you had to do," Sam reminded him.

"And it wasn't a blink. I got possessed: I made it sound like that but it wasn't. I don't remember most of what Michael did with me because I was under water. Drowning. And that I remember. I felt every second of it- clawing, fighting for air. I thought I could make it out but I couldn't: I wasn't strong enough. And now he's gone: he's out there putting an army of monsters together. He's hurting people. That's all on me, man. I said yes. It's my fault."

I met Dean's gaze in the rearview mirror, heart breaking at the confession.

⁘

Two Months Later

"No, Garth- Garth?"

Sam sighed looking at the phone in his hand.

"Garth, huh?" Dean asked. "He'll be okay. He's fooled Michael this far, right?"

"Dean, I pulled him out of retirement for an undercover mission. If something happens to him, it's on me."

"Okay. Hey, look. Naomi gave us the Michael's location, okay? We got a spy on the inside- for a change, we're one step ahead. And given everything we've pulled off lately, I like our odds."

I bit my lip, looking between Sam and Dean as Cass entered the room.

"It's Ketch," he told us.

We followed him to the map room where Jack was sitting in front of a laptop on a video call with Ketch.

"Mm," Ketch hummed, sipping a cup of tea. "Valko's compound was a breeze, as it turned out. Jammed the security system from the outside, sedated the guard dogs- Rottweilers, naturally-"

"Ketch," I interrupted him.

"Hey," Sam greeted. "You have it?"

"Sam, Dean, Eleanor. What, no 'hellos', 'how are yous'?"

"No time," Dean shook his head.

"The egg, Ketch," Cass said.

"And as I was just telling Jack, I did, in fact, manage to expropriate the egg from a certain Hungarian rare-weapons collector."

"Yeah, uh, uh, Arpad Valko. We got the messages," Sam confirmed, "but so?"

"Unfortunately, once I got back to Budapest, where I was intending to catch the red-eye back to the good ole U.S. of A., he unleashed a swarm of mercenaries upon me," Ketch explained. "I was cornered, and so I was forced to, I'm afraid, drop the egg like well, to mix a metaphor, like a hot potato."

"Oh," Dean said.

"You dropped it?" I echoed.

"Never you mind, love. I put it somewhere safe. In fact, it should be arriving in Lebanon, Kansas, the day after tomorrow between, mm- 2:00 and 6:00 pm."

"You put the only weapon we have against Michael in the mail?" Dean asked.

"Ah, not just any mail," Ketch smiled. "I paid extra. Certified Priority Express."

"He paid extra," Dean echoed in disbelief, looking over at me.

"Look, I improvised. It's not as if I have access to the top-shelf clandestine networks I did during my British Men of Letters days. And really, who's fault is that, hmm?"

Sam let out a sharp breath, addressing the Brit.

"Okay, K-Ketch, we're- we're not mad,- W-we appreciate the effort."

"Do we?" Dean asked angrily.

"It's just that big Michael stuff is going down soon. We- we- we kind of needed the egg... now."

Sam chuckled nervously and Ketch's face fell on screen.

"Oh. Well, um- Sorry, chaps."

Cass gave a frustrated sigh, exiting the room. Ketch fidgeted anxiously, staring at our defeated expressions. The next day, Sam looked up the information for the package and found out it got held up in Joplin, Missouri. It would have made it to Lebanon if it weren't closed for the holiday. Garth also called, letting us know that Michael was sending some guys after someone in Omaha and retrieve a spear. So, we decided to split up; one group going to get the egg and the other going to get the spear.