The Devil's Pets

by Alex Siegel

  "You can't give up."

  "I'm not." She worked her jaw. "I need aluminum foil."

  Stony and Brian searched the motorhome, taking care around the motion detectors even though they were covered. Stony discovered a roll of aluminum foil in a drawer in the tiny kitchen. He expected the real owner of the motorhome had purchased the roll and that owner was now dead.

  He gave the foil to Pekerman. "You're going to create a short circuit?"

  "No," she said. "Something much dumber."

  The detonator had three thick antennas sticking out. She wrapped the antennas in aluminum foil, covering them completely.

  "Oh," Stony said, "I get it. The aluminum blocks the radio signal from the motion sensors."

  "Exactly, and no wires have to get cut."

  Pekerman used several layers of aluminum. She even draped foil over the detonator and stuffed some underneath.

  "There," she said. "We should be able to get the kids away from here."

  "What if the trick doesn't work?" Stony said.

  "We get blown up."

  He went to the front door of the motorhome. He took a deep breath, opened the door, and boldly stepped outside. Nothing exploded.

  Stony ran to the children. He yanked the stakes out of the ground using brute strength. He untied the sacks from the kids' heads.

  "Go!" He pointed to a crowd at the south end of the graveyard. "Run that way!"

  The children stumbled as they ran. They were obviously weak and disoriented, but fear lent them energy.

  Firemen and paramedics had arrived in trucks and ambulances. Stony didn't know whether they were real or PEA agents in costume. He had requested a scrub team, and they usually came disguised as first responders.

  The Memphis police and the FBI had also showed up in marked vehicles. Stony believed that most of them were real, and that could be a problem, but they were staying out of the way at the moment.

  The biggest issue was a crowd of civilians, drawn out of their homes by the noisy helicopter. If the bomb exploded, it would throw shrapnel across the entire graveyard and kill everybody.

  Men scooped up the kids as soon as they arrived. The kids were put into ambulances and taken away immediately. Stony hoped they were in the custody of the PEA now. They needed the right kind of treatment after prolonged contact with infernal evil.

  Stony, Brian, and Sergeant Pekerman joined the crowd shortly thereafter and received enthusiastic applause. The heroes bowed and smiled.

  Veronica came over accompanied by a gray-haired man in a blue suit. He had a thin, bony face.

  The two of them joined Stony and Brian, and they moved away from the crowd.

  "Nice work," the man said.

  "You are?" Stony said.

  "Agent Thatcher, PEA." He shook Stony's and Brian's hands. "I'm in charge out here for the moment."

  "Any sign of Orcus?"

  "Field teams are scouring the area, but no luck so far. At least you rescued the kids."

  "Some of them," Stony said. "Pomona still has the other half. I would say tonight was a tepid success at best. At least everybody didn't get blown up."

  "How big is the bomb?" Thatcher said.

  "Huge, and according to our expert, it will be very hard to defuse. Everybody here is in danger, even this far away. The scrub team has a tough job ahead of it."

  Thatcher looked at the motorhome with a fearful expression.

  Stony clenched his fists hard enough to crack his knuckles. "Of course, the worst part is Orcus got away. From now on, he'll be even more cautious and tricky. We blew our shot at him." He clamped down on his temper. "How is Mia doing?"

  "Last I heard, she's still at a hospital getting her ear stitched together."

  Stony felt a fresh flash of anger. He didn't doubt that Mia would heal. Like him, she possessed supernatural resilience, but she might have scars.

  Brian took out his phone. "I'll call the director." He dialed a number.

  "Yes?" Director Robertson replied over the speaker.

  Brian described the events of the night.

  Robertson sighed. "It's over for now. I want all the members of the third division to come home."

  "What if Orcus is found tonight?" Stony said.

  "He won't be. He's too smart. The only reason you got so close this time was because he wanted you to. Now that his trap failed, he'll go to ground. We need a new, better plan, and we won't figure it out now. Everybody is too exhausted."

  "Yes, sir." Stony sighed and looked at Brian and Veronica. "I guess we're going home."

  * * *

  Stony, Mia, Brian, and Veronica stepped off the shuttlebus at Schonenberg Air Force Base. Stony looked at the blank gray walls of the monolith he called home. It wasn't an inviting sight, but he was safe here. The Tomb was the one place where he could completely relax surrounded by friends and protected by an angel.

  The sun had just risen above the eastern horizon. Ducks and geese were foraging on the shore of Belmont Bay. The beautiful, clear morning should've brought cheer to Stony, but he was too upset about failing to capture Orcus.

  Diana came out the front door of the building, surprising him. A team of heavily armed PEA agents flanked her, but they weren't getting in her way. A blue dress matched her blue eyes and contrasted against her red hair.

  "Hey, guys!" she called out. "I heard you had a rough time out there."

  Stony walked up to her. "It wasn't good. Orcus is still on the loose. We rescued some of the kids at least. Did you wake up at dawn just to greet us?"

  She snorted as if his comment were funny. "This is about the time I usually go to sleep. I'm not a fan of daylight. Oh, Mia! What happened to your ear?"

  Mia touched a thick bandage which covered her ear. "A dog tried to chew it off. I should heal pretty quickly though. Within a couple of weeks, you'll hardly be able to tell."

  "Good, and I hope the dog is all right, too."

  "Are you kidding? I gutted the damn thing!"

  Diana had a horrified expression.

  "Come on, ladies," Stony said. "Bedtime for all of us."

  * * *

  Stony rolled over in bed. He wanted to sleep, but he was too hungry.

  The glowing display on the clock read 5 PM. He had missed breakfast and lunch.

  He gently shook Mia's shoulder. "We slept enough," he murmured.

  "Fuck off," she growled.

  He quickly withdrew his hand.

  Stony got out of bed in the dark. He found a bathrobe and shrugged it on. He left the bedroom, opening the door just enough to slip out into the hallway. He walked straight over to the kitchen.

  Diana was already in there. She had put on jeans and a blousy white shirt, but her feet were bare. She was preparing an omelet in a frying pan.

  He sniffed. "Smells delicious."

  She turned to him with a smile. "I'll make one for you if you want."

  "Sure."

  Six guards were also in the kitchen watching Diana. They carried assault rifles and wore black body armor.

  "You can go, guys," Stony told them. "I'll take responsibility for her now."

  The guards left with expressions of relief.

  Diana watched them go. "Oh," she said, "I was just getting used to having a full-time fan club."

  Stony went to the automatic coffee machine. He searched the cabinets until he found his favorite cup, a black behemoth which could hold a full quart of coffee. Words on the cup read, "Enough coffee to rule the world." He put the cup into the machine and pressed the button. Internal machinery clicked and whirred.

  "How have you been keeping busy?" he said.

  "Exercising," Diana said. "Practicing martial arts. I spent plenty of time in the gun range. Turns out I like guns. I like them a lot."

  "Good. As soon as this mission is over, we'll get serious about your training. A member of the third division should be able to defeat a zombie horde single-handedly."

  She smirked.

  "You think I'm kidding?" S
tony said. "I'm dead serious."

  She served the omelet from the frying pan onto a plate.

  "Here," Diana said. "Take this one. I'll make another for myself. This is a nice kitchen, by the way."

  Stony put his omelet and coffee on a white kitchen table. He pulled a fork out of a drawer and sat down to eat. He eagerly took his first bite.

  "Mmm," he said. "This is great."

  "Thank you," Diana said. "I did all the cooking for Orcus and the other girls."

  Mia shuffled into the kitchen. Apparently, she had decided it was time to wake up after all. She was wearing a silk bathrobe with a Japanese flower pattern printed on it.

  She looked at Stony's plate with a suspicious expression. "You made an omelet?"

  "No," he said. "Diana made it."

  Mia gave Diana a hard look. "You cooked for my boyfriend?"

  "Do you want one?" Diana said cheerfully. "We have plenty of eggs."

  "Uh, sure." Mia sat heavily on a chair by the table.

  She didn't appear eager for conversation, so Stony kept his mouth shut. Diana made an omelet for Mia and served it with a flourish.

  Mia took a bite. "Not bad," she admitted.

  Diana finally prepared her own meal, but by that time, Stony had finished his. He got up and made three glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice using an automatic juicer. He gave a glass to each of the women.

  "As soon as everybody is awake," he said, "we need to have a meeting and make a plan. We can't just sit on our asses and wait for Orcus to pop up whenever he feels like it."

  "He'll be hard to catch," Diana said. "He knows a million tricks."

  "I'm aware. Nonetheless, we must succeed and quickly. He still has captive children."

  Chapter Sixteen

  The meeting was taking place in the conference room across the hall from the gun range. The PEA had spared no expense when furnishing it. An entire wall was a touch-sensitive computer display, and a screen saver pattern made of silver crosses was playing in a loop. The swivel chairs had thick, cushy pads. The ventilation system provided soothing background noise.

  Stony, Mia, Brian, Veronica, Diana, and Director Robertson were present. Kane was still recovering from his broken leg.

  "Any luck finding Pomona or the other kids?" Stony said.

  "No." Robertson shook his head. "She seems to have vanished completely. Of course, it doesn't help that she split off from Orcus, and we didn't know it for a long time."

  "I bet she headed west," Mia said. "Orcus went east to set his trap, and he would naturally want to draw attention away from her. She could be in New Mexico, Arizona, or Utah by now. Maybe even California."

  "Big states. That's a lot of land to search."

  "She has some of the dogs," Stony said. "Diana, is Pomona good at controlling animals?"

  "Pretty good," Diana said. "She can certainly handle dogs. They're easy. Dogs naturally like to take orders from humans. She had trouble with cats though. Cats are my particular specialty."

  "What does Orcus want?" Brian said. "What will draw him out?"

  "He needs kids to sacrifice," Veronica said.

  "He'll have some," Stony said, "once he meets up with Pomona, and he's not shy about kidnapping more. Unfortunately, kids are easy to snatch."

  "Gold?" Mia said.

  "Also easy for him to steal. He was self-sufficient for years. He knows how to get by without much help. Diana, you must have some idea. You lived with the bastard."

  Diana furrowed her brow. "He doesn't need much. Just animals to care for and kids to sacrifice. None of us had real jobs. Orcus just stole more gold whenever our money supply ran low. Our biggest expense was animal food."

  Mia held up the doll that Stony had found on the bus. She ran her fingers through the blonde hair thoughtfully.

  "You still have that?" Stony said.

  "I had the agents ask the kids we rescued last night. None of them claimed the doll. We still have to find its owner."

  "She could be dead."

  "Or she could be screaming for help. We can't give up." She glared at him.

  Stony clenched his jaw. Then an idea occurred to him, and he turned to Diana. "There is one thing Orcus wants, one thing we took from him, and I bet he would kill to have it back."

  "What?" she said.

  "You, his beautiful cook and loyal slave."

  Her eyes widened.

  "No." Mia shook her head. "You can't put her out as bait. She hasn't had any real training."

  "And her loyalties are untested," Robertson added. "Her emotional stability is suspect at best. She swore an oath, but that's all. She hasn't accomplished a single mission. If we let her out, we're not sure what she'll do."

  "Does anybody have a better idea?" Stony said. "Diana can pretend to escape. The PEA will chase her across the country, and we'll make sure Orcus hears about it. He'll come to get her, and we'll grab him instead."

  "What about the kids?" Brian said. "How do we rescue them? I'm sure Orcus won't reveal their location even under torture."

  Stony thought for a moment. "How about this. We let Orcus take Diana back to Pomona and the kids. Rathanael's mark will let the angel track her. We can't lose her. Then we'll sweep in and get everybody in one shot."

  "That's asking an awful lot of Diana. She'll have to pretend to be loyal to a man who abused her for years. Her performance will have to be flawless, or he'll kill her. Won't he be very suspicious?"

  A knock on the door made Stony look towards it. Rathanael entered the conference room with his wings exposed but folded neatly behind his back. The angel was wearing his usual white shirt and white pants. A black tie hung loosely around his neck. He was holding something behind his back.

  "I heard my name," he said.

  "Yes," Stony said. "I was recommending that Diana fake an escape from our prison in order to draw out Orcus."

  "He won't trust her unless she is wearing this."

  Rathanael took Diana's old iron collar out from behind his back. Stony grimaced at the ugly hunk of iron.

  Diana jumped out of her seat and backed into a corner. "No! I will not put that cursed thing around my neck again! That nightmare is over!"

  Rathanael held the collar with both hands and closed his eyes. His hands began to glow white, and the iron became hot enough to turn red. Stony could feel heat radiating from it. A brilliant flash of light dazzled his eyes.

  When his vision cleared, he saw that the collar had returned to its usual black color.

  "The collar is no longer cursed," Rathanael said, "but Orcus won't be able to tell. You can wear it safely."

  Diana stayed in the corner with an anxious look on her face. The angel walked over to her.

  "Trust me," he whispered. "This is your chance to prove yourself to the team. You can be a hero... if you're brave enough."

  After a long moment, she nodded. He put the collar around her neck and squeezed the spot where it had been cut. When he removed his hand, the metal had fused together seamlessly. The collar looked exactly the same as when she had arrived at PEA headquarters.

  "How do you feel?" Stony said.

  Diana considered for a moment. "Fine. Pretty good, actually." She stroked the iron. "It makes me feel... safe for some reason."

  Rathanael smiled. "Yes, my child. It has my blessing. You are ready to meet your former master."

  "Hold on," Robertson said. "The collar is a nice prop, but it's not enough to convince Orcus. He has to believe she escaped from our prison."

  "That's why the escape has to look right," Stony said. "There must be a lot of bad publicity. She has to leave a trail of evidence proving she really is running for her life. Elaboration is the key, just like what Orcus did to us."

  "We seem to be forgetting something," Mia said. "This woman was our enemy just a few days ago! Now you want her to risk her life as a fake fugitive? Real cops and FBI agents will be chasing her. How do we know she'll stick to the plan?"

  "Indeed," Rathanael said. "By herself
, she will fail. She needs a guardian angel shepherding her."

  "You?" Stony said in confusion.

  "No. I had you in mind. You will secretly accompany Diana and make sure she behaves properly. I'm confident you'll be a very attentive guardian."

  "No way!" Mia said. "My boyfriend is not going to spend that much quality time alone with Diana."

  Stony gave her a dirty look. Did she have so little faith in him?

  "Then go with them," Rathanael said. "The three of you will make a formidable team. Brian and Veronica will join you when you're close to your objective."

  "Have you lost your mind?" Robertson said. "Stony and Mia leave a trail of bodies wherever they go. Their last outing featured illegal interrogations, threats, and even murder. They're not trained to be field operatives. I would barely trust them to take out the garbage. Now you're asking them to babysit Diana on a long, dangerous assignment with no external supervision?"

  "We learn from our mistakes," Rathanael said. "Stony and Mia will perform better next time. I have faith in them. This is the best way, the only way, and we must be quick. Every hour that passes puts the lives of innocent children at greater risk."

  Stony felt crushing pressure to not disappoint the angel.

  He looked at Diana. "We haven't heard from you. What's your position?"

  "I know it will be hard," she said, "but if it's what the team needs, I'll do it."

  "You think you can convince Orcus that you are still loyal?"

  "I was his slave for years. I can assume that role again for another day or two if necessary." She brightened. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes I fooled him."

  He smiled at her enthusiasm. She would make a great addition to the team if she survived this assignment.

  "This is still a terrible idea," Robertson said.

  "I agree," Mia said.

  "I don't have faith in Diana," Veronica said. "She hasn't proven herself to me."

  "She hasn't proven herself to anybody," Brian said.

  "Your objections are noted," Rathanael said, "but it's my decision, and I have decided to proceed."

  "Let's get to the next level of detail," Stony said. "This plan has several parts. The daring prison escape comes first, of course, but that should be easy to arrange. It's our own prison, after all. Then comes the journey across the country, leaving a trail of witnesses and incidents to get Orcus's attention. The trickiest part will be arranging for him to take Diana without making him suspicious. Where will that happen?"