by K.N. Lee
“Oh, holy crows! The Drascatu are here!” Her adrenalin spiking, she raced for the stairwell—again. She didn’t want to have to wait for the slow-poke lift.
She pounded up the stairs like an Olympian. Flinging open the door, she bolted into the hallway. She came to a skidding halt.
Nursing staff and doctors lay sprawled on the floor in pools of blood.
“Christ on a cracker,” she wailed. “How bad can it get?”
When she got to Ace’s room, she wondered why no security alarms had been set off. Cee-El sat calmly in the corner, filing his nails.
Several of his crew surrounded Ace. Each of them wielded a weapon. Switchblades and guns were all aimed at Ace.
Ace, huddled on top of the hospital bed, had nothing to defend himself. The man was as good as dead.
Kara huffed out her breath. “Here we go again. Say your last wishes. I’m about to kill each one of you.”
16
Looking pale and weak, as if both the healing and the shock of the healing had made him worse, Ace hunched on the hospital bed like a cornered badger. His teeth bared in a snarl. One of his arms draped across his face. The other clutched the blue sheet bunched on the mattress.
Kara, scanned the room for weapons. The Overbed table next to Ace held a stainless-steel pitcher of water, a plastic cup, and the needle the nurse had left. A small table on wheels stood next to her. On top, sat a monitor. Next to the monitor lay a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. A three-drawer dresser stood at her other side, pushed against the wall. Hardly weapons. Once again doubt swept her mind—do I or don’t I whip out my flaming sword? Someday, she’d sit someone down and get all the rules straight in her mind. If there is a someday…
Four men surrounded Ace, each holding a switchblade, wielding them like Ginsu salesmen determined to slice him into sushi.
Cee-El looked up from his perch in the corner of the hospital room, grinning. “Hey, beautiful. Glad you could stop by. We’re about to finish some business here. I decided to fast track the process.”
“What process is that?”
“The one supposed to happen on the full moon. What’s a few days? Ready to watch your friend get sent to hell?”
Kara stood gaping. He’s involved in all this? “No! You can’t kill him!” How can this be happening? Why is everything on a fast track with me? She wanted to howl like an infant. Throw things around the room. Stomp and yell. But now there was no time left at all.
Cee-El chuckled.
The sinister laugh sent chills up her spine.
“We have no intention of killing him, right, boys?”
“That’s right, boss,” said a fifth man, dressed in a black suit. A big guy, looking to be about two-hundred pounds plus of solid muscle, he stood next to Cee-El. His hands were laced one over the other in front of his hips.
His bodyguard?
“You, however, should be allowed to wait before we kill you. I’d like to enjoy you for a while, once I’m in my new role.”
“What role is that?” Kara asked, trying to form a strategy.
“You’ll see,” he said in a sickeningly winsome voice. “Get her!” Cee-El shouted in his stupid, school-boy voice. “But don’t let him get away!” His arm flew toward Ace.
Three men kept their switchblades trained on Ace.
The fourth goon turned to face Kara. A pimply looking man whose teeth were chipped into odd angles, it looked as if he had a nervous habit of chewing rocks. He rushed toward her.
She surprised him with a sharp kick to the belly. All the while she kept her awareness on Ace—as well as the other goons surrounding him. She kicked again. Her boot landed on chipped-tooth’s face, as solid as a flatiron.
His head spun. His body followed the trajectory initiated by his head, slamming him into the wall.
“Score one for the bitch,” Cee-El called, scowling. “She’s only one girl. You can do better than this, assholes. What do I pay you for?”
She whirled to ready herself for attack, gesturing to the men surrounding Ace. “Who wants to play?” She seized the stethoscope from the small table and swung it overhead like a whip. It made a whooshing noise as it whipped through the air.
A greasy looking man, as wide as he was tall, with slicked-back hair, turned his face away from Ace and focused his red-glazed eyes on her make-shift whip.
The other two men, a teenage body-builder looking guy and a giant of a man, left Ace’s side and hustled toward Kara.
Get your sword out, she told herself. But what if they can see it and I destroy the whole race? She kicked the table with the monitor at the giant.
It crashed into him. The monitor fell to the ground. The screen shattered, sending bits of glass scattering along the floor.
While the giant maneuvered past the table, she flicked the stethoscope at the teen’s face, clocking him in the eye.
“Ow!” he yelled. “Fuck!” His covered his eye with his palm.
The giant lunged.
She pulled back her hand, and flicked the stethoscope, aiming at his groin.
It caught him in the nuts.
He roared.
She swung it overhead again, watching them both.
Ace scrambled to his knees and hooked his arm around the back of grease-guy’s neck. He yanked the guy’s face into the metal railing circling the bed.
The knife fell from greasy-guy’s hand, clattering against the floor. Blood spurted from his nose. He pitched a fit, wailing to wake the dead.
“Stop this!” yelled Cee-El. “Do something!” he said to the bodyguard.
The man threw open his jacket and retrieved a gun from his chest holster. He aimed it at Kara.
“Don’t kill her, jackass! We need her alive!” Cee-El screamed. “You watch him,” he pointed toward Ace. “You other guys, get her!”
“We’re trying,” the teen said.
“Try harder,” Cee-El snapped.
Before the grease-ball could recover, Ace plucked the IV needle from the stainless-steel tray next to the bed. In one swift move, he jabbed it in the guy’s eye. Greasy-guy howled, his hands flying to his face.
Ace fell back on the bed and curled in a ball.
The teenager, apparently recovered, threw a punch at Kara.
She ducked, dropping her make-shift weapon. She reached for it.
The giant kicked it out of the way.
The teen struck again, catching her cheek.
“Ow! Goddamn,” she yelled, her hand flying to her face.
The giant meathead leaped behind her, grabbing her hands.
Kara tried to resist.
He forced her arms back.
She cried at the sharp pain.
Focusing on Cee-El, he said, “So what do you want me to do with her?”
She fought and wrestled against his sweaty grip. Her eyes met Ace’s. That strange, sizzling stir of connection began to coil through her bloodstream.
“That’s it!” Cee-El sprang to his feet. He snatched the gun from the bodyguard’s grip. “Fun time is over. We need to get this thing started.”
“Too late, jackass,” Kara said with a snarl. “The FBI is on their way.” Come on, Jaidon—hurry.
Cee-El’s eyes grew wide.
The fat, greasy guy held his hand over his bleeding eye, blubbering.
“Shut up,” Cee-El roared. Training the gun on Kara, he side-stepped to the door and eased it open a crack.
Five Drascatu flitted into the room.
Ace scuttled backward on the bed. “Don’t let them get me!”
“They won’t, I promise.” Kara wrists ached from the giant’s strong grip.
“What the fuck?” Cee-El said, looking overhead.
“You can see them?” Kara asked.
Without answering, Cee-El peered down the hall. “Motherfucker,” he muttered. “She’s right. If the FBI are on their way, we’re screwed. We’ve got to get the hell out of here.” He glanced around the room. “You guys keep the fuzz at bay. Then, follo
w me.”
“Roger that, boss. Where to?” chipped-tooth guy said, having peeled himself from the wall.
“To the roof. I’ll radio a chopper.” He shoved the gun in his waistband.
“The roof?” chipped-tooth said, his eyebrows high on his forehead. “How do we get to the roof?”
Cee-El picked up the chair next to the bed and rushed toward the window. “Climb, idiot, how do you think?” He swung against the pane. The chair bounced backward in his grip. He swung again. Still nothing. Tugging the gun free from his pants, he pointed at the window and pulled the trigger.
It shattered in an explosion of tinkling glass.
“My eye!” the stabbed guy said. A small thread of blood tracked down his cheek. “How can I climb if I can’t see?”
Cee-El scrambled out the window and perched on the ledge. “Figure it out.” Then, he crawled out and disappeared.
The Drascatu circled Cee-El’s minions. They muttered and mumbled in a language Kara couldn’t comprehend.
Cee-El’s goons seemed rudderless without their leader. They looked at one another for clues of what to do next. Clearly, they had no idea evil was circling them.
“Okay,” the giant meathead finally said in a decisive tone. His grip still held Kara tight. He tilted his head toward the bodyguard. “You watch these two.”
Removing one of his hands from her wrist, he waggled a finger between Kara and Ace.
“I don’t have a gun.” The bodyguard stood stupidly, one hand restraining Ace.
“Use mine.” The huge man pulled his gun free and tossed it to the bodyguard.
The bodyguard trained the gun at her, keeping his free hand on Ace. “Don’t move.”
Kara’s booted heel slammed into the giant’s shin.
He grunted, his grip slipping.
She wrenched free of his hand, stumbling toward the bed.
“Get her out of here,” the giant roared. “We need to start. Let the ritual begin!”
The bodyguard nodded, racing across the room.
When he got close, she kicked at him.
He spun out of the way. Jumping to her side, he grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the door. He flung the door open—wrestled her into the hall.
She beat her fists against the two-hundred-pound jerk. Her gaze whipped down the hall. Jaidon, where are you? What could be taking you so long?
The bodyguard gave her a powerful shove, sending her crashing into the wall.
She fell to the ground with a cry.
The beefy guard raced back in the room and shut the door.
Five shots rang out.
“Oh, God! They’ve shot Ace!” Kara sprang from the floor and reached for the handle. It was locked. She stood, staring through the little window in the door, her mouth agape.
Cee-El’s men sprawled along the floor, bloody holes through their skulls. Blood and brain matter covered the walls.
Ace hung his head off the side of the bed, retching like a dog. When he managed to stop, he said, weakly, “He shot everyone and then killed himself.” Shakily, he swung his legs off the side of the bed.
She battered the door with her fists. “The door, Ace! Get the door! Let’s get out of here!”
Ace scrambled from the bed and raced across the room. He flipped open the lock, right as a Drascatu held out its hand, sending a blast of lightning in Ace’s direction.
He twirled, like caught in the eye of a hurricane, and flew against the wall. “I can’t move!”
Kara shoved the door open, slipping on brains as her foot touched the floor.
The five Drascatu rocketed to the floor, landing by the fallen men. Each Drascatu extended its claws. They trained their sightless eyes at one another and nodded. As if listening to some inner signal, they struck, tearing the men’s bellies open.
Then, the demon’s hard-shelled bodies softened and they wormed inside.
“Look!” Kara’s eyes grew wide as she pointed at the dead men.
They all twitched and jerked, as the Drascatu slithered through their bodies.
Ace swallowed hard. “Oh, Christ, this can’t be happening.” His lips peeled back from his gums in an expression of horror.
Slowly, the giant slowly got to his feet, looking blankly around the room. He moved with wooden, jerky gestures, like a puppet.
The other men all followed. As they got to their feet, they all bore similar glazed expressions. They marched toward Ace.
“Kara, do something!”
“Shut up,” said one of the zombies, back-handing him in the face.
Ace’s head whipped to the side, blood flying from his lips.
Speaking in a hollow-sounding voice, like it came from another world, the giant said, “Let it begin.”
Kara rushed toward the greasy-guy turned Drascatu zombie.
He lifted his hand and let loose a bolt of lightning.
She slammed against the wall opposite Ace, staring at him with helpless horror.
Four of the zombie-men peeled Ace from the wall.
“No!” he shouted.
They grabbed him by his limbs, stretching him as they lifted him in the air.
“Help,” Ace screamed. “Help!’
His cries sent anguish through Kara.
The giant snapped his fingers and more Drascatu sifted into the room. Flying in circles overhead, they burped some sort of weird fog-like smoke from their mouths. The smoky fog blurred and blackened the air around the possessed.
The fog...that’s how they created that sickly fog. It stung her eyes, making them water. She blinked and blinked, unable to stop the sharp biting sensation.
“God. This fucking smoke. I can barely see you. Tell me you’re still here.” Ace’s voice came out strained.
“Still here,” Kara said. Using all her strength, she tugged against whatever magic pinned her to the wall. Can’t…move.
The four goons began marching in a circle. Their intestines hung from their bodies.
“I’ll get you out of this, Ace, I promise,” Kara said.
“Jesus,” Ace said. “What are they going to do to me?” His eyes appeared like blue dots in a sea of white staring at Kara through the gloom of shadows.
“Nothing! I won’t let them.” Kara’s heart broke. This was so one of those do or die moments she’d trained for, both as an FBI agent and a Valkyrie. Squaring her shoulders, she let out a war-cry and wrenched free from the wall. So, we all die. I can’t let Ace be taken into evil. She yanked her flaming sword from its invisible sheath.
The Drascatu flying overhead, sped in rapid circles chattering in their strange language.
“Getting hard-ons, you wicked demons?” She lunged at greasy-zombie-guy and jabbed her sword through his abdominal cavity, upward into his heart.
Releasing Ace’s leg, grease-guy let out a scream and crumpled to the floor, writhing. Black blood gurgled from his mouth.
Kara prepared to let loose another blow.
“No!” the chipped-tooth man cried. “All of us are needed!”
She gripped the sword and swung.
Chipped-tooth arched out of the way, yanking Ace.
Ace cried out in agony. “My arm!”
“We can make-do! Faster,” the giant shouted. Tugging Ace, he crouched.
The giant lifted the fallen man’s arm with his free hand. With a grunt, he slung him over his shoulder like he tossed hay bales for a living.
They all sped up.
“Oh, Jesus,” Ace cried. He kicked his free leg wildly, clocking the giant in the head.
Kara darted around the circle of zombies. She swung her blade again, and sliced through the teen’s neck.
His head flew from his shoulders.
“Christ almighty!” One of Ace’s arms now hung free. He twisted and writhed, grabbing at anything.
“Faster!” the giant shouted. He stooped, caught the teen with his free hand, and hefted the headless teen over his other shoulder. The weight proved too much and he stumbled, releasing Ac
e. The two dead bodies pinned the giant to the ground.
Ace yanked his arm from the last zombie.
“Go! Out the window! Go!” Kara yelled.
“Not without you,” Ace replied.
“This isn’t the time for heroics, Ace.”
The last Drascatu-zombie, chipped-tooth guy, lumbered toward Ace.
“Want to bet?” he said, picking up the chair Cee-El had used to try to smash the window. Hefting it, he swung at the chip-toothed guy, grunting with effort.
The man toppled to the ground.
Kara two-handed her sword and brought it straight down into the man’s chest.
He let out a scream. Black blood sprayed from his chest.
Kara and Ace stood staring at one another, panting.
She eyed the remaining Drascatu, still circling overhead. “What are you waiting for? Get them.” She pointed at the fallen men.
They hesitated.
“What? It’s my job to tell you where to go. It’s your job to do whatever you do.”
Still, they circled nervously overhead.
“Gah! This must be some rule I missed in my training! Fuck the Academy!”
“Shit,” Ace said.
“You got that right.” She looked at Ace.
He stood, his arm outstretched, pointing.
Her gaze lifted to the door. In all the commotion, she hadn’t noticed Jaidon’s arrival.
He stood, transfixed, his eyes unblinking, trained in her direction. His entire body trembled and shook, from head to toe.
He knows. “Oh, gods have mercy,” Kara cried, throwing back her head. “We’re all dead now.” She tucked her bloody sword into its invisible sheath.
Jaidon’s face crumpled. He blinked rapidly as he stared at her now empty right hand. He brought his gaze to her face, his mouth hung open in an O.
“Agent Wright. Are you in position?” a muffled voice said.
She met his gaze, hoping to reach the human man she still loved—only, not in the way she used to. “You need to get back to Kara. Save her,” she said in as soothing a voice as possible. “Please don’t say anything to anyone about what you saw.” Her lungs labored to slow her breathing. “Can you do that, Jaidon? Can you save Kara?” She searched his eyes for signs of comprehension.