Soul Bite

by D. N. Erikson

“Could be anywhere,” I said.

  “Then we take the stairs,” the leader said. “And clear it floor by floor.”

  I stared at the door at the end of the narrow hallway.

  If anyone was on the other side guarding the cubicle farm, the first person through would be cannon fodder.

  “You go through first,” I said. “I’ll cover you.”

  “Not how this works,” Commander Scott said.

  “Do you know where the holding cells are?” I whipped around to glare at him in the flickering apocalyptic darkness.

  He wicked sweat from his chin. “Fine.”

  Commander Scott unleashed a sharp whistle. Gunfire barked and boots stomped.

  Five men thundered through the entrance. A sixth was cut down in the street.

  The leader pressed a finger to his ear and said, “This is Alpha team leader, requesting sit-rep.”

  He nodded, listening to the chatter over his earpiece. Then he turned to his team, “Seven casualties reported from the other squads. How many did we lose?”

  “Eight,” a short man replied.

  “So we have seven men to take this door.” The commander turned toward the door at the hall’s end. “Jenkins, you and Reynolds will breach with C4.”

  Two men rushed past and began extracting supplies from their packs.

  Commander Scott glanced at the rest of the squad. “After the breach, we’ll hit them with flashbangs and clear the room.”

  The rest of the men nodded. Fairly standard plan.

  We backed down the hallway, to the front lobby.

  Jenkins and Reynolds finished with the charges and hurried back.

  “Charges are ready, sir.”

  “Go.”

  A thunderous boom shook the hall, echoing off the tight walls. A chorus of clinking grenades followed.

  I shielded my eyes as a succession of bangs erupted in the room. Scattered shouts filtered through the smoke.

  Commander Scott’s men didn’t wait. They rushed into action.

  Guess I wasn’t the lead bit of cannon fodder anymore.

  Short bursts of gunfire sounded, methodical and efficient.

  Then I heard the screams, and what sounded like flesh being torn from bone.

  I cautiously edged toward the hall, trying to see through the swirling smoke. Up ahead, in the haze, I heard Commander Scott yell, “Need backup on our position. Now.”

  I wasn’t eager to provide that. Another sharp, haunting scream rattled through the hall.

  That’s when I noticed the elevator was open. Only the button light had been damaged.

  I slipped through the smoke and ducked inside.

  “Backup requested. Bring the Rainmaker.” Commander Scott almost sounded frantic. Scattered gunfire erupted from the cubicle farm, but it was unorganized.

  Outside, the battle continued. If anything, it sounded like the fight had intensified. Maybe the FBI had reorganized some of their agents.

  Wind rustled through the hot, dry air as I jammed the button for the fifth floor.

  It was just a guess.

  But that was where the FBI had taken me when they’d booked me for murder.

  And I had the feeling it was where they took their highest profile cases.

  The elevator cab rattled and the lights buzzed as it climbed the floors. It ground to a halt on the fourth floor as the lights went out.

  I banged on the buttons, but none of them lit up.

  It was quite dead.

  “Shit.” I tried the door open button one more time in futility.

  Then I heard scraping—like claws running against stainless steel. Thin strands of light leaked through a growing crack in the doors.

  I thought maybe the button had worked.

  But then I saw a hand.

  It reached for my throat.

  I screamed, slamming against the back of the tight space to escape.

  An arm came through.

  I bashed it with the end of the rifle. A feral yell warbled on the other side of the doors as the owner of the arm clawed at me.

  I swung again and connected. But the doors ground open further.

  I saw a gleaming eye out in the hall.

  I tried to sense a soul, but couldn’t.

  Had to be one of Loki’s FBI demons.

  The arm swiped at my throat.

  I hit the floor.

  The rifle was useless in the tight confines of the elevator. If I fired, I was liable to die from a bullet ricochet.

  I tossed it aside. Another six inches, and the doors would be open wide enough for the demon to come through.

  Then it would be game over.

  I ripped the Reaper’s Switch out of my pocket.

  Jabbed at the bare arm.

  The sharp blade drew blood, and the demon howled, yanking its wounded arm back.

  The eye glared at me, registering surprise. “You’re the Reaper.”

  Guilty as charged.

  I grabbed the rifle off the floor and poked it into the hall.

  The demon stiffened, realizing I had him dead to rights.

  I wouldn’t be hit with a ricochet with the target two feet away.

  “Where’s Agent Taylor?”

  “You can’t get to him alone,” the demon replied.

  “Don’t be so sure.”

  Before I could pull the trigger, the building shook like it’d been hit by an earthquake. The demon’s uninjured arm shot out, snatching the rifle from my grip.

  I stumbled to the ground, hitting my head against the wall.

  Woozy, I watched through blurry eyes as the doors parted.

  A tall man slipped through.

  I fumbled for the Reaper’s Switch and swung the blade at his leg. Rifle fire erupted as his legs collapsed beneath him.

  Bullets pinged off the elevator as the clip emptied.

  It clicked shut.

  I dragged the knife out and went to stab him in the throat.

  Multiple bullet ricochets had already killed him, though.

  I felt a warm spot on my thigh.

  And when I looked down, I saw blood staining the tan fabric.

  59

  I used the man’s shirt to make a tourniquet. The rifle was useless without more ammo, but he had a Glock 22—standard FBI issue—in a hip holster that did just fine.

  No spare magazines, unfortunately. He did have a master key that opened each holding cell—hotel rooms stripped of their furnishings—which would prove useful.

  I limped through the peeling hallways as the building swayed. Whoever had control over the Rainmaker was really putting it to use.

  Checking the rooms yielded no demons or any sign of Kai. That meant he was hopefully on the fifth floor—just like I’d first thought.

  I made it to the stairwell, sweat soaking my shirt through. When I adjusted the tourniquet, I noticed the blood spot had grown.

  A quick peek revealed a nasty bit of shredded flesh. The blood didn’t flow as freely as you’d think—I guess something I could thank Aldric for.

  If he hadn’t used the Reaper’s Sorrow on me, I’d likely be dead.

  Each step in the crumbling stairwell was still a brutal trial. I yelped like a small puppy each time I had to lift my right leg.

  Focusing and gritting my teeth didn’t matter. The sounds were involuntary.

  I collapsed against the wall on the fifth floor landing, wanting only to lie down and sleep.

  “Keep going,” I said, trying to gather the energy to continue. With great effort, I jammed the pistol against the wall and pushed off.

  I hurled the thick steel fire door open and stumbled into the hall. The rows of hotel rooms extended seemingly forever to both my right and left.

  But I needn’t have worried about where Kai was being held.

  To the left, at the end of the hall, no less than three agents raised their firearms and yelled, “Drop the weapon.”

  I said, “Rayna sent me as backup.”

  “We didn’t hear a
bout that. Drop the gun.”

  I tossed it to the faded carpet, wanting desperately to collapse next to it.

  “I’m here to extract Agent Taylor to a secure location.” I began limping toward them, using the wall for support.

  “Stop right there.” The safeties clicked off in unison.

  I licked my chapped lips, trying to sense if they were human. The taste of a human soul was always faint, so it took effort.

  In my current state, I couldn’t make an accurate assessment.

  “So, what’s it gonna be.” I drew in a deep breath. With the windows shattered, the sounds of the gun battle drifted up from below. A whipping wind buffeted the side of the building.

  Rain drops pattered through the window frame.

  “We need to call Director Denton,” one of the three men said. “Confirm the story.”

  “You think she’s telling the truth?” A guy with an itchy trigger finger jabbed his gun my way.

  A little fear nipped at my throat.

  I recognized him.

  He was from the list.

  I couldn’t tell with the other two.

  “This place may be going down,” the third guy said. “We’ll have to move him.”

  “That’s probably what she wants.” The second guy shook his head. “She’s already been shot. Means she’s been shooting back.”

  “Or it means I’ve just been in the vicinity,” I said, blinking hard, fighting to stay awake.

  “Let’s throw her in the room,” the first guy said. “And then decide. We got bigger shit to deal with.”

  They seemed to settle on that. I was allowed to proceed forward.

  The first agent even helped me into the hotel room. It was stripped of furniture, save for a chair in the corner.

  Things were coming full circle.

  I’d been in one such room five months before, and Rayna had grilled me for murder.

  My life was different then.

  For one, that room had a window.

  In that lone chair sat a bloodied Kai, head slumped, long hair dangling over his face.

  After helping me to the floor, the first agent turned to leave. I called after him, “Hey, what’s the time?”

  He checked his watch. “Almost eleven.”

  Then the door shut, and Kai said, without looking up, “Well, at least neither of us will die alone.”

  I flicked out the Reaper’s Switch. They’d been blinded by my substantial wound and the growing storm, forgetting their training. No one had bothered to frisk me for weapons.

  “The only one dying tonight is Aldric.”

  “You have a plan I don’t know about?”

  “Get there before eleven-twenty-seven,” I said. “And hope that we kill him in time.”

  Darkness swirled from his soul. “Doesn’t sound like much of a plan, Eden.”

  I slipped the knife through his bonds, freeing his wrists.

  He didn’t move.

  I poked him with the sharp tip, and he grunted.

  “It’s the only one I have,” I said. “Either way, this ends tonight.”

  Because, when you were all-in, there were no second chances.

  60

  Kai proved more beleaguered than gravely injured. He rose from the seat and stretched. His torn shirt—ripped during an intense interrogation—displayed his muscular chest.

  I said, “Who are the three guys outside?”

  Even in the windowless room, I could hear the wind howling in the hall.

  “Raymond, Johnson, and Capers.”

  I took out the list and matched the names. Only one of them was a demon—Capers. “We take out Capers, then.”

  “With what, exactly, Eden?”

  “You could use this.” I tossed him the Reaper’s Switch.

  He looked at the duct-taped handle. “Won’t this hurt me if I try to use it?”

  “Only if you try to reap a soul,” I said. “But no risk of that. Demons don’t have them.”

  The spear sigil on his right arm cast a blue glow over the walls. “And my sister?”

  “She’s safe.”

  “Not if I leave here.”

  “If you don’t leave here, then we all die,” I said. “So let’s cut the dying on your sword bullshit and head back to Master Aldric.”

  Kai’s brow furrowed in suspicion. “Master?”

  I waved him off. “Yeah, it’s a whole thing.”

  “It’s Friday, Eden.”

  “And if we keep talking, I’m going to turn into a vampire pumpkin.” I pointed at the door. “Ready?”

  “Your leg doesn’t look good.”

  “It’s not getting any better talking to you, jackass.” I realized I was pretty pissed at him for even being in this position.

  If he’d been free, this whole scam would’ve been a lot easier to run.

  “The door’s locked.”

  “Right. Give me that back.” I held out my hand, and he shot me a skeptical look as he placed the Reaper’s Switch in my palm.

  Yeah. You try being focused with a bullet fragment in your leg as you’re about to turn into a vampire for all of eternity.

  Probably wouldn’t be on your A-game.

  My leg dragged along the worn carpet as I staggered to the door. I found a coat hanger in the closet. After bending it into shape, I used it and the blade to jimmy the old lock.

  Click.

  Outside, one of the agents said, “You hear the door open?”

  I flicked the blade to Kai. He caught it deftly as the door crept open.

  “What are you two up to in—”

  The blade was in the agent’s throat before he could react.

  Guess that was Capers. He gurgled and dropped to the ground.

  Kai disarmed him and had a pistol raised before the other two men could draw.

  The door banged against his boot. He kicked it open, and I caught it.

  That took more effort than I’d have liked.

  “Kick your weapons to me,” Kai said. “And phones. Slow.”

  “You’re not going to make it more than fifty feet outside, Taylor,” the guy who had convinced the other two to lock me up said. “You hear this storm?”

  Thunder boomed outside the window.

  “And then cuff each other.” Kai’s gun didn’t waver. He looked like a madman with his black hair hanging over his face and the blood streaking his skin.

  The two agents removed their weapons and phones. “You’ll have to cuff one of us.”

  “Fine,” Kai said. After they were both cuffed, he nodded to the room. “In there.”

  “Come on, Taylor, you can’t—”

  The safety came off, and both men hurried inside.

  The door locked with a decisive click.

  I was propped up against the wall, leaning on my forearm like I’d just ran a 5k.

  “We need to make it to…” I lost track of the words and slumped over.

  A strong arm caught me before I hit the carpet. “You’re sure this will work, Eden?”

  “If I kill him, it’ll all go away.” I blinked, looking up at him. “We’ll all be free.”

  Kai glanced at one of the abandoned phones. “In twenty-three minutes, we’ll know for sure.”

  Then he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

  61

  The elevator was a nonstarter—it was dead and beyond repair. That meant a trip down the stairs, which, despite being carried, was still a painful experience.

  It wasn’t all bad, though.

  Each sharp little bump knocked me awake and aware of how screwed we were.

  I still had no plan for how to kill Aldric.

  One didn’t seem likely to fall from the ether in the next twenty minutes. I did a quick mental calculation on how long it would take to venture the five blocks to Aldric’s penthouse.

  My brain wasn’t interested in actual estimates, other than the obvious: too fucking long for comfort.

  The interior supports of the building
itself seemed to shudder, and I murmured, “The Rainmaker.”

  “What the hell is that?” Kai rounded the second floor landing.

  “Weapon.”

  The fire door beneath us popped open. Kai raised his pistol and fired, downing one of Commander Scott’s men.

  We slipped through the door, emerging in the cubicle hell that was the converted pool and gym rooms. My vision wasn’t serving me all that well at this point, but I recognized that we were near Rayna’s office.

  White light crashed from the ceiling, and Kai took cover behind one of the cubicles.

  “Electricity is going haywire,” he said, adjusting me on his shoulder.

  “That was lightning,” I said, feeling the crackle of raw electricity in the air.

  Kai checked the pistol’s magazine and looked out from the cubicle. A chorus of bullets greeted him, and he ducked back.

  Too bad he hadn’t stopped to give me one of the agents’ guns upstairs.

  Then again, I hadn’t thought of it, either. Four years of habits were hard to break.

  I bounced my head against the cheap gray vinyl, and said, “They’re all Scott’s men.”

  “We can’t fight our way through,” Kai said. “Too many of them.”

  I tasted blood in my mouth. “Only way to get to Aldric’s front door is surrender.”

  Kai shook his head as gunfire flashed. “That’s a terrible plan.”

  “It’s the only plan.” I went to stand, but he pulled me down.

  “There’s another way.”

  “Oh, and what’s that?” The wind rustled through my hair.

  His arm glowed blue, so bright that the light was almost a supernova white. My stomach felt like it was full of marbles, nervous at what he might do.

  Or that could’ve been the blood loss.

  Or lack of blood in general. His arm also looked delicious.

  He twirled the pistol on his finger, then handed it to me. “You do what you do best.”

  “Shoot people?” I looked at the Glock in sheer confusion.

  “Make people believe.”

  I grabbed the stock.

  “I need the knife,” Kai said.

  I gave the bloody Reaper’s Switch to him.

  I didn’t need to ask what to do next, even half-asleep and dying. “Hey, is that Alpha team?”

  My voice was almost swallowed by the wind, but it received a gruff, “Who’s out there?”