by Terry Spear
That’s what Hunter had belatedly figured—that the whole place was full of Matusa. Which meant they probably couldn’t just walk out of here without a fight if anyone had noticed Alana enter the building.
Tarn’s brother paused, glowered at the door, then said, “Call me back as soon as you get this message.”
Then he stalked off down the hall.
No one said a word, all of them probably concerned their voices might carry.
Then Alana let out her breath. “Now what?”
“We still can’t return to the parking lot at the hospital. At least when you opened the portal, we were far enough from the original location when we first appeared in the demon’s world that it won’t be that close to the hospital when Pennel arrived. So, hopefully, he didn’t encounter the police.” Hunter snorted. “I wonder if the hospital cameras were able to pick up the lights of the portal when we went through it. Or if anyone might have captured what had happened on a cell phone. I can just see us all featured on Youtube. But we still need to get farther away from the original site.”
“We’ll need a car,” Celeste said, disappearing into another room.
“We can’t take yours,” Hunter said, wondering what she was up to.
“There’s some kind of a drying machine in here,” Celeste said. “At least I think so. Maybe Jared could figure out how to work it.”
“Or make a mess of it,” Jared said, sounding annoyed with himself for not being able to get into Tarn’s apartment.
“Probably just as well we didn’t get in there,” Hunter said. “Pennel had been watching us, or at least he saw you and Celeste, but must not have been alerted to our presence for a while and by then Alana and I were standing at the end of the hall at the window where he couldn’t see us. Since he had alerted Tarn’s brother, we would have been in Tarn’s apartment when his brother arrived.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Jared said, playing around with some kind of machine that looked like a large microwave. “Get a shirt or something of Pennel’s wet, and we’ll experiment, Celeste.”
She found a shirt, took it into a washroom, got it soaking wet, and brought it back to Jared.
He shoved it into the “dryer,” then closed the door, and tried a setting. Nothing happened. He tried another button and the shirt began to smoke.
“It’s on fire,” Celeste said, her eyes wide.
“No, it’s steam.”
Before their eyes, the shirt turned from dark, wet blue, to light blue, perfectly water-free fabric.
Celeste said, “Wow, that was fast.”
“Start stripping,” Jared said to everyone. “I’ll dry our clothes off in a jiff.”
Celeste laughed. “That’s a guy line if I ever heard one.” She left the room and returned minus her dress, while she was now wearing an oversized black men’s shirt.
Alana hurried into the same room and came back wearing Pennel’s black robe. Hunter couldn’t help the surge of irritation that made him feel. He didn’t like it that she was wearing anything of the Matusa’s. If the man ever did make it back here alive, he’d know the Kubiteron had been wearing his clothes and would want her all the more. Her unique scent would be imprinted on his memory forever, like it was on Hunter’s.
After they had dried their clothes and redressed, they checked out the kitchen where Celeste started opening cabinets while Hunter took the robe Alana had borrowed, filled a basin with water, and threw the garment into the water. After pouring a strange smelling liquid into the water, he turned to see Alana watching him, curious as to what he was up to.
“Figure we shouldn’t wear someone else’s clothes without washing them for him afterward,” he said.
“Yeah, and that’s why you’re washing only the robe that I had worn?”
Hunter gave her a devilish smile.
She shook her head.
“Do you feel all right? Being here, I mean,” he asked.
“Now that we know we’re in a whole tower complex of Matusa demons?”
“They must be out or sleeping, or busy in their apartments and not watching out the windows, or I’m sure we would have had trouble when we first arrived,” Hunter said.
“Eww,” Celeste said from the kitchen. “What is this stuff?” She pulled out a clear container of something gray and squishy looking.
“Demon food,” Alana said. “Tarn told me he had gotten both demon and human food for me, my choice. Well, and probably for the warlock who was working for him. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach demon food, either.”
“Did you try any of it?” Celeste asked.
“No. I was busy exorcising ghosts and trying to figure a way out of his apartment. I’m sure if we had been raised on demon food, human food would not seem very appealing, either.”
Celeste snorted. “If I’d ever harbored any crazy idea of living in the demon world, this would have killed that notion in a hurry. Although I am starving. It’s nearly dinner time and we never even had lunch today.”
“So what do we do?” Jared asked. “Transport out of here where it’s nice and dry and we’ll end up close to where Pennel showed up in Baltimore, not far from the hospital? Or go back out into that hurricane-like weather—or try to. We may not be able to leave this building. Or even if we do, we might not get very far."
“Can you control demon’s minds?” Celeste asked Alana.
“No.”
“So what do we do, Hunter?” Jared again asked.
Chapter 8
Life as a demon hunter was one calculated risk. Hunter always tried to take the least amount of risk in a situation that involved Jared or Alana. Faced with Celeste’s safety also now, he had to really make the right choice this time.
He finally said, “Tarn’s brother was too complacent when he left here.”
“Meaning?” Jared asked.
“He suspects foul play. Pennel never answered his phone. Why not? The demons trying to break into Tarn’s apartment had conveniently disappeared. Where to?” Hunter said.
“So he’s lying in wait for us?” Jared asked.
“Or getting hold of the authorities to report the break-in, and maybe even share his concern with them that Pennel has been injured or taken hostage in his own apartment.”
“By the brute force of an Elantus and Camaran demon?” Jared asked. “He’d be laughed out of the security forces building.”
“He may improvise and say a couple of Matusa had done so. It would seem more likely.”
“So you believe we should open a portal here, return to Baltimore, and chance running into the police?” Jared said.
“Wait!” Alana said, her expression stricken. “I might have killed him!”
Hunter stared at her, uncomprehending.
“I opened the portal at forty stories above street level.”
Everyone gaped at her, then Hunter smiled. “Good, then Pennel shouldn’t be a problem. Too bad we couldn’t have somehow pinned the summoner’s murder on him until we could locate that Matusa.”
Alana rubbed her arms and Hunter noticed the chill bumps on them. He pulled her close. “I know you didn’t mean to do it.”
“He would have killed you and Jared for sure.”
Hunter grunted. “He could have tried.”
“I only meant to get rid of him in the interim.”
“Yeah, well, now we have a new problem. We’ve got to get to the ground floor of this building, then open a portal.”
“I should have thought it out better,” Alana said, sounding miserable.
“Are you upset that you probably killed him?”
“No, not exactly, because it would have come to that eventually, but I should have… known.”
“We all should have considered it. At least you came to the realization well before we used the portal ourselves. Are we all agreed that we try to make it to the first floor and then open the portal?”
“When the warlock, Connor, and I tried to escape Tarn’s place, we used a mattress I l
evitated until we could reach the ground.”
“No, we’re not going that way. If you could even do such a thing with all of us, by the time we reached the ground, I could see us surrounded by Matusa and security forces.”
She nodded. “We couldn’t leave the apartment any other way. Our only choice was to break out the window.”
That notion gave his heart a jumpstart. He didn’t even want to think of what might have happened if she’d lost her concentration while levitating them to safety.
Celeste moved to the door and looked through the rectangular viewing panel. “Looks clear,” she said. “But I can’t see all the way to the ends of the hall.”
“We don’t have any choice,” Hunter said. “Are we all ready?”
They all nodded in silent agreement, and Hunter opened the door. He looked down each side of the hall. “All clear,” he whispered. Then he added, “Women in the middle. Jared, you follow up from behind.”
Once he realized Alana’s assumption was right and they had only two choices at this point—reach the ground floor and either head into the bad weather or open a portal first—he was ready to make a move. He prayed the way would remain clear.
***
Celeste was fascinated with how Alana, Hunter, and Jared worked as a team. Even though Hunter was clearly in charge, he had his moments when he let the others apply their own wits and skills to solve a problem. She only wished she’d have some vision of a future event that might help them. Unfortunately, they were totally unpredictable and so nothing was forthcoming.
Though she was terrified of having to face a score of angry Matusa in the complex, she couldn’t help the thrill of excitement buzzing through her veins. She always knew she was weird.
She’d never thought of herself as a thrill-seeker. But maybe Jared was right that Camaran demons loved to face danger.
She glanced back at Jared. He was stony-faced, but appeared to be ready for any eventuality. Alana walked tall and straight and appeared as though she was solemnly contemplating what they might face. Hunter moved like a warrior, forcefully, determined, yet carefully, quietly, more like a panther than a soldier stomping on the ground, letting everyone know he was ready to face his enemy head on.
They were nearly to the elevators when a door opened to one of the apartments behind them.
Neither Alana or Hunter looked back. Did they not hear the door open behind them? She turned her head and saw a Matusa child watching them, incredulity in her expression, chilling but beautiful black eyes studying her. Celeste was certain they didn’t have visitors to the tower who were not Matusa demons. And that’s just what was going through the little girl’s mind.
The girl said nothing. Maybe she was afraid of them. Or maybe she was afraid of what her father might do to them if he saw them. Maybe that would ruin her outing with him today. Though what a day to go on an outing.
Jared frowned at Celeste, and she had the distinct impression he wanted her to turn around and pretend the little girl wasn’t there.
“Lisalee, return and put on your rain cloak,” a gruff male voice said inside the apartment.
She smiled at Celeste, but the look was pure evil. As if to say she’d give them a head start, then the chase was on.
Sure enough, as soon as Hunter pressed the elevator button, the Matusa child said, “Daddy, are any other kinds of demons supposed to be on our floor?”
The elevator reached their floor and opened. A middle-aged male Matusa stood inside. Hunter was the first to react. The man bowed his head a little in greeting to Hunter, but then he saw the other demons behind him. The Matusa’s eyes grew round, and Hunter leapt forward, kicking him in the belly, yelling, “In,” to his companions. He judo chopped the man in the throat, making him gasp for air.
Then he tossed the Matusa out of the elevator. The Matusa went sprawling on his belly. From inside the elevator, Celeste watched as the girl shook her finger at them as if to say they had been naughty. Just as the doors began to shut, she said, “Well, Daddy, the lesser demons just threw Hirolson off the elevator.”
Which wasn’t true. Hunter had done the job. Celeste figured the child would get more of a reaction if she said a lesser demon had dared to beat up a fellow Matusa.
The doors whispered shut and Hunter pulled Alana into his embrace and kissed her. “Be ready for anything.” He added, “This isn’t going to be easy, Celeste. If you can help in any way, do your best.”
“I will.” But she wasn’t sure how she could help.
As fast as the elevator had ascended before, she thought it would descend just as quickly, but about halfway to the ground floor, it suddenly stopped. She looked up. Floor twenty-one.
Her skin chilled and she moved away from the door. She wished that she could do something to help. She wished Alana could wipe the Matusa demons’ minds and make them believe the occupants of the elevator were all Matusa like them.
The doors slid open and three male Matusa stood staring at them, not moving into the elevator, just looking from one to the next.
“What the hell’s going on?” one of the men said, then pinned his gaze on Alana, though Hunter had moved protectively in front of her. “Well, hello, Kubiteron,” he added in a roughly seductive voice.
Forgotten for the moment, Celeste figured it was her turn to do something brave and heroic. She moved toward the button, but something was in her way. A body, but nothing was visible. She glanced back where Jared should have been, but he was gone.
The close door button was depressed, the doors whisked shut, and the elevator shot downward. Pounding on the outer doors could be heard from way up above.
“Jared?” Celeste asked.
He reappeared in front of her and smiled.
“You can become invisible,” Celeste said, with a real sense of wonderment.
“Yeah. I would have done so earlier, like when you and I got out of your car to join Hunter and Alana, but I was afraid I’d shake you up too much. I only do it when I think there’s a real advantage to it.”
“Cool,” she said, wishing she could do something like that.
Although she didn’t think any of the Matusa could make it down in another elevator any faster than they were going, she reconsidered when the elevator slowed and stopped again. She glanced up and groaned. Floor six. Still too many feet from the ground to risk using a portal. Probably close to sixty feet. They’d all be broken to smithereens if Hunter opened a portal now, and they entered it.
The door slid open. A Matusa female carrying a baby stared at the demons. “What are you—”
“Wrong building, ma’am,” Jared said politely, stepping forward, then closed the door in her face.
“We’re almost there,” Alana said, but spoke the words too soon.
The elevator jerked to a stop at the next floor down. At this rate, the three male Matusa would make it to the first floor before they got there. A scrawny little boy was already heading away from the elevator when he turned to give them a sassy look. Then his jaw dropped as he saw all the different demon types, and he tore off.
“Maybe he’s pressing the elevator buttons to pull a prank on passengers,” Hunter said.
“Good. Then that’ll stop the three men, too,” Celeste said, hopefully. “But bad in that he’ll probably report us to his parents.”
“They still had to wait for an elevator also, which will help slow them down a bit,” Jared added. “I’m sure we’ll get to the ground floor before anyone else can try to stop us.”
They moved past the fourth and third floor with no problem and Alana said, “When we get to the ground floor, press the closed button and—”
The elevator stopped at floor two. The doors opened and Tarn’s brother and three other men stood in the hall looking at Celeste. “I’m Fasino, Tarn’s brother. You must be the ones who tried to pay him a visit. He hasn’t been home in a while. Do you know where he’s gone?” He glanced at Hunter and frowned. “Pennel didn’t say anything about a Matusa or a…
my. What have we here? Pennel failed to mention you.”
Celeste nearly laughed. Even though Jared had told her that male demons were attracted to the Kubiteron, she hadn’t believed him.
She reached out to push the button to close the door, but Fasino grabbed her wrist, and she squeaked. He gave her a wicked smile. “You will do for one of my friends.”
He tossed her to one of the other men who wrapped his meaty arms around her waist and held on tight, but as soon as he did, he released her and clutched at his heart, an anguished cry stuck in his throat.
Fasino went after Hunter, the only real threat to any of the Matusa, but Alana suddenly raised her fingers and said some kind of a spell, and he began to elevate off the floor. Then he flew into the other two men, and an invisible hand grabbed Celeste and pulled her into the elevator. She slammed her hand against the down button, hoping Jared was in the elevator.
Fasino had knocked the two men off their feet as the one with the heart problems was writhing on the floor in pain.
When they reached the first floor, Celeste kept her finger on the door close button to keep it from opening. Alana summoned a portal and the four of them jumped through it, landing on top of each other in a tumble of arms and legs in a grassy park, a short distance from the hospital. Hunter quickly closed the portal, and Celeste hoped no one saw it.
Alana said, “Ohmigod, there’s Pennel.”
She was still on her back on the ground as Hunter rose to help her up. She was staring at a nearby tree. They all looked up and Celeste saw him, too, hanging in the branches, broken, dead.
No one else must have seen him yet.
“Too bad we still couldn’t plant incriminating evidence on him so that you would be cleared of any wrongdoing,” Hunter said, helping Alana to her feet.
“What now?” Jared asked, looking around.
Celeste then noticed a group a walkers on a trail staring at them.