by Michael Todd
“Shit,” Jeremy said, running over to her. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would actually let that hit you. I would have never swung that hard if I had thought for one second that you would get hurt like that. You’re fucking bleeding and everything.”
“It’s all right,” Katie said, blinking to get her vision to clear and waving a hand at him. “It’s my fault.”
“Here, let me help you up,” he said, reaching down and pulling her up by the arm.
She wobbled back and forth on her feet for a moment, holding onto Jeremy’s shoulder. Pandora growled in her head, and Katie hoped the demon had felt every bit of that pain and agony.
When her vision finally straightened out, she let go of Jeremy and shook her head.
“Man, I was seriously not paying attention in the least,” Katie said. “Consider it a truth…I’m not infallible.”
“I know. I know you’re not, but I didn’t want to be the one to prove that,” Jeremy said.
I don’t feel bad for you at all, Pandora said. Just think of it this way: I’m training you, so be happy. You need to be able to take a punch; to get knocked down and work your way back from it. This was good for you.
It might not be good for you later, Katie growled.
“Here, let me see that cut,” Jeremy said, lifting Katie’s chin toward the light. “Huh, weird.”
He lowered her chin and looked at the blood smeared across the mat. He scrunched his eyebrows together and stood back from Katie for a minute, looking at the whole picture.
Katie tightened the bands on her wrists and glanced up at Jeremy, who had a confused look on his face.
“What?” she said. “Is it that bad? Should I get some stitches?”
“No.” He shook his head, amazed. “Your face…it’s already healing. What was there has already stopped bleeding. It’s almost like it stitched itself back together.”
Katie looked down at the ground and smirked, knowing it was Pandora’s way of saying she was sorry. She healed fast because of her demon, and even faster when Pandora felt bad about something. Katie nodded and bounced back and forth, punching the air.
“Just another side effect.” She smiled.
“Man, I wish my demon would wake up just a little.” He chuckled. “He is a silent asshole that only comes out when I am pissed.”
“Work on that,” she said. “Try to pull some of his powers out in you.”
“Is that what you did?” he asked.
“No.” She chuckled.
“Then what?” Jeremy replied.
“We talked,” Katie answered.
The two went right back into sparring, but Katie made sure to let Pandora know she was listening and that she accepted her apology. Pandora might be the end to her one day, but in the meantime she had started to feel like it wasn’t so bad having her around. At least she wasn’t alone.
Knock that sentimental shit off before I make you punch yourself, Pandora griped.
Katie just smiled.
18
The next morning Katie got up early, put on her clothes for the day and headed to the kitchen for some coffee.
No one else had come out yet, but she could sense them stirring in their rooms. She poured a cup of coffee and walked over to the window, squinting through the dew-covered glass.
There was something in the air; she could sense it, but couldn’t tell what it was. She had never liked that feeling. Even before she was Damned she could sense when the tide was changing or things would get rough.
She shook her head and sighed, figuring it was just everything going on, and not anything really to worry about.
She sipped her coffee. The feeling just wouldn’t leave the pit of her stomach.
As she let the coffee wake her up, Korbin came over the loud speaker asking everyone to gather in the kitchen. He would be over there in a few minutes for an announcement.
He didn’t repeat himself this time, just turned on the red lights and hung up the receiver. That wasn’t like him; usually he was very military and professional, but obviously something was going on. When everyone had finally gathered, Korbin came out of the chapel and stepped to the front.
“All right, everyone,” he said loudly over the voices. “We’ve had a nice little break, but now it’s time to get serious. Intel is suggesting a major city is going to be hit soon. No one, not even the higher ups, knows exactly where yet.”
“I don’t like this,” Calvin said. “It sounds an awful lot like the last big hit.”
“Yeah.” Korbin sighed, rubbing his face. “Only this is supposed to be tactical. Specific; planned out by someone or something. This isn’t just kids playing around with magic in their basement. Apparently we are going to be hit where it hurts, where humans will feel the most pain.”
“So, a church or hospital or something,” Jeremy suggested.
“Those are some of the options,” Korbin agreed. “But I personally think it will be bigger. They know we are one team per every few states right now, so I am thinking they might plan to hit different spots. But again, there is no intel on that yet. We are trying to sift through everything and pull information, dates, times, and places from what we have uncovered, but unfortunately it is taking time.”
“From what it sounds like so far, we don’t have a lot of time,” Eric replied.
“I don’t think we do, and I’m pretty sure they are aware of that,” Korbin answered. “The higher-ups know we might get caught with our pants down, so they are pulling in extra hands on this one. Right now we are gaming the odds on the West Coast, possibly California. That being said, I want you guys to continue training, but keep the beat-downs to a minimum.”
Korbin looked at Jeremy and Katie, letting them know he knew about the punch. It had become the punch heard ‘round the base by that point, and while Katie was glad that it had boosted Jeremy’s self-confidence, she didn’t want Korbin to think she was weak in any way.
She nodded in agreement and he turned his attention to Jeremy, who did the same.
“All right,” Korbin said, “here is the deal. There are three different ways this battle could find our doorstep. First, we have one big incursion like the last one, for those of us who were here. Something centered in one spot, lots of demons, some leaders, and only God knows what else.”
“Things you see in your nightmares,” Calvin answered.
“That’s right.” Korbin put up two fingers. “Option two is the possibility of two large incursions, both smaller than the one large option, but both large enough to need some really powerful fighters and a whole lot of luck.”
“So, what’s the third option?” Eric asked. “Doesn’t sound like it can get much worse than that.”
“Oh, it can.” Korbin chuckled. “The last option is multiple spots and multiple strikes carried out simultaneously.”
“Well, shit,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “So what do we do?”
“Well, if it’s one strike, we go,” Katie said. “If it’s two, we split up and hope we are enough, but if it is multiple we are going to need help from other spots.”
“Other teams, you mean?” Jeremy asked.
“Yes,” Korbin said. “For now, though, while we are figuring this out I want you close. I want you resting, and I want you training. If you need me, I’ll be around the base.”
Everyone left the meeting in a much worse mood than they had started with. It was never good to be offered three options, any of which could take out the team, but it was all part of the job—and why they were there in the first place.
“Katie, Calvin, stay behind for a second,” Korbin said, walking over and sitting down at the table. “Any thoughts, you two?”
I’d say they will launch multiple incursions at the same time, same location, trying to get a major infestation, Pandora told Katie.
Why do you say that?
I can’t tell you, not yet, she answered. You’ll just have to trust that I am giving you the right information. Just reme
mber, I don’t want to die either.
Well, shit. If Pandora was telling her this, there was a reason for it. She wouldn’t put herself in harm’s way if she could possibly help it. Pandora was a demon, sure, but she was self-serving, not part of the drone—the band of brothers trying to infest the whole of Earth.
“I’m not sure,” Calvin said. “I feel like the two spots might be their MO this time around, but I really can’t say that with certainty. I have underestimated these creatures every step of the way. The little ones…sure, they are complete idiots, but the big ones are smart like us, if not smarter sometimes.”
“Katie?” Korbin turned to her.
“I think you might want to consider the multiple threats, same location a little more seriously than before,” Katie answered.
“All right,” Korbin said. “Why do you think that?”
“A hunch.” Katie shrugged.
Calvin eyed her for a moment, then turned to Korbin. “That’s good enough for me.”
“That means we need to have more teams and people in different areas.” Katie thought about the ramifications. “Focused on California.”
“What if we focus on California and it happens in Oregon?” Calvin asked.
“You gotta think about it like you were planning an attack,” Korbin said. “You would want to throw them off, but still be in a populated place where things were far enough apart to cause havoc. California makes the most sense, if you look at it that way.”
“I think that if we can come up with a timeline—something as close to when we think it will happen as possible—we have a chance to get inside their operations curve.” Katie chewed on her lip. “We should pre-deploy, and see if anyone from the East Coast has surplus help for us. Call in the extras—the people in outlying areas willing to help—and don’t forget about our contacts in the civilian government.”
“I agree.” Korbin nodded. “I’ll call in help and place them in Los Angeles, but they have to stay at their own home base. We can’t have a bunch of people mucking up our space, especially with everything we have going on. There are a lot of risks here, and we are going to be asking people outside our team to put their lives on the line.”
“Right but they all have the same reason to do this that we do,” Katie said. “They all have people they want to keep safe, and they all have reasons for being part of this. It shouldn’t matter what the location is.”
“You’re right,” Korbin replied. “We just have to get them to see it in that perspective.”
“Well, with the way it sounds, that may be our only option,” Katie replied.
The three of them sat around talking strategy far into the afternoon. This was the biggest threat they had heard about so far, and it was right on their turf, or at least really close to it. When they were done, Korbin called Damian back into the meeting.
“All right,” Korbin said. “On a slightly different note, I’ve heard things about the business floating around. What is going on?”
“We need up-front funds to get the manufacturing going,” Katie answered. “There is nothing I can do about that; the numbers are just way bigger than I thought they would be.”
“How much bigger?” Korbin tapped the table with a finger.
“Over a million,” Katie admitted. “But Calvin came up with a possibility. Three more investors at four hundred and fifty thousand each, each taking ten percent of the company. That would raise the money needed but leave the majority in my hands.”
Korbin raised an eyebrow. “And who are the three investors?”
“Well, I’m one of them,” Calvin answered. “I’m definitely in for my portion of it.”
“I am as well,” Damian said. “I hadn’t told Katie yet, but I’m all in on the ten percent.”
Korbin chuckled. “Let me guess…I am the third piece of this puzzle?”
“If you’re interested, you are.” Katie looked at him. “I know it’s a big investment, but it will be worth it in the end.”
“All right, let me ask you this…” Korbin began with a completely straight face. “Will you sell me the company for eight-point-seven-five million?” He waved a hand above the table. “Free and clear. I give you the money, and you give me the company and everything that goes with it.” His eyes bored into her. “Burdens and all.”
“I…uh…” Katie didn’t know what to say. Her eyes flicked toward Damian and Calvin before looking back at Korbin.
“Think about it this way,” he said. “With that kind of money, you could start any other company you wanted. You wouldn’t have any more worries about any future you want, or the future of your family. This would give you options, Katie. Real ones, to build something that you really cared about, to build your empire.”
Flashes of Katie’s old life blew through her mind: the dreams, the desires, and the worry for the future.
Everything she had wanted but never thought she could have, all wrapped up in eight million dollars, tax-free, no questions asked.
But then it occurred to her…something that she hated to think about, but it was the reality of her life.
She didn’t know if she had a future that would allow her to have that kind of business. She didn’t know if she would have the time to be the businesswoman she had planned to be.
Even if the war ended tomorrow, she couldn’t go back to the life she once lived. It was enticing in a way she had never thought about…but then she looked at Calvin, who was staring at her with that puppy-dog look on his face, and she cracked up, shaking her head.
“That is a whole lot of money.” She turned back to Korbin. “More money than I ever thought I would see in my lifetime, and the offer is amazing. That being said, my answer is no, but thank you. I’d like to keep my employees, my partners, and my company. The offer is ten percent for four hundred and fifty thousand.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” He laughed. “All right, I’m in. Ten percent for four hundred and fifty thousand.”
“That is great.” Katie smiled, surprised that he went for it.
Everyone stood up from the table and shook hands. Calvin was the most excited of them. Katie could tell his dream to own a business had been brewing long before he had ever raced into a demon-infested hospital with a machine gun.
It was nice seeing those guys passionate about something beyond the killing and sacrifices. It was their own little way of feeling somewhat normal; of owning something that had value, and not just monetarily. They didn’t get many opportunities to be normal everyday people, but this was one.
“All right, gentleman,” Katie said. “It is a pleasure doing business with you. I am going to head out to talk with Joshua. I’m sure he is ready to get out of that hotel anyway.”
“What hotel?” Calvin asked.
“Just staying with a friend,” Katie said, winking at Damian.
When Katie left the room, Calvin looked at Korbin.
“Told you so.” He laughed.
“I had to try,” he replied with a smile. “Maybe she will mess up, or not count her numbers right and need another ten-percent stake in the company. I mean, hell—I’d buy nine percent and leave her with the fifty-one if it was that important. However, I have to say, buying into this company is like having Apple drop into your lap when they first started up. Thirty percent of Apple is worth a hell of a lot at this point.”
“Yeah, but computers and phones aren’t made for only one type of being,” Calvin said. “These weapons only have one purpose.”
“Their purpose is to save every human life on this planet,” Korbin pointed out. “A purpose bigger than mankind has ever faced before in its existence. It could mean the difference between winning and losing their souls.” He tilted his hand left and right. “I think that’s pretty important in the grand scheme of things.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Calvin stretched his arms above his head. “And we got in on the ground floor.”
Korbin eyed Damian and Calvin with a smirk. Damian tilted his
head and sat back, knowing that conniving look on Korbin’s face much too well.
He was up to something; brewing something in that head of his.
“Either of you want to make a hundred percent on your money right now?” he asked. “I’ll buy your ten percent for nine hundred thousand dollars.”
“Wheeeewww! That’s a fucking lot of money.” Calvin laughed. “I wish I could throw that kind of money around.”
“Me too.” Damian nodded. “I feel like in the regular world Korbin would be a business tycoon who buys up all the investments and rents them to the less fortunate like us.”
Korbin laughed. “Nah, I’d give my money away and go live on a beach somewhere, drinking rum out of a coconut and getting fanned by a few beautiful women.”
“I can’t imagine that.” Calvin’s eyes lost focus. “And I want my brain to stop trying to do so.”
“I think I’ll keep my ten percent,” Damian said with a smile.
“Me too,” Calvin replied.
“Aw, you guys are no fun.” Korbin chuckled. “Maybe Derek will be a little looser with his wallet.”
“Yeah, right.” Calvin grinned. “We are in this together for the long haul, Korbin. I can sense you are already trying to attain the throne.”
19
The sound of trickling water echoed through the stone tunnels. Large metal sconces holding lit torches were mounted securely to the black walls.
Their flames flickered wildly, casting ominous shadows through the deep ravines under the ground.
A massive demon wandered slowly through the dark and dank tunnel, arms swinging close to his body. His broad chest over half the width of the passage. His skin was black, and never had a human hand been laid on him. His face was round, the skin rough and scaly and his mouth was always slightly open due to the long fangs that protruded from its sides. His nose was nothing more than two slits in his face, and his eyes glowed redder than all but four others in this dimension.