Institutionalized (Demon Squad Book 10)

by Marquitz, Tim

  One of her eyebrows rose in her signature expression that questioned my motives and stated how much of an idiot she thought I was, all at once.

  “Just get me what I need and you go handle Fantasma. You can ask me questions later.” Not that I intended to answer them. That was the whole point of being the boss. “Have the troops ready in a half hour, and make sure they have climbing gear,” I told her. “I’ll send someone to pick them up.”

  “Your call.” She took it and stalked off, pulling out her phone to do what I’d asked of her.

  Then I was off.

  After I’d stopped off at home and picked up something I’d need in case my theory held true, and garnered Rachelle’s help, I had her drop me off back on Earth. Once there, the rolling green pasture spilling out before me, the fresh air a huge difference from the stuffy catacombs of Hell. I stood there for a few moments, drawing in deep breaths and taking in the view.

  “Are you ready?” Rachelle asked, looming in the open portal behind me.

  “Yeah, I guess.” I wasn’t, but time was running out. “Do it, please.”

  The air before me glistened and rent, a tear appearing, merging two locations on Earth and opening a passageway between them. There, on the other side, stood the DSI soldiers I’d asked Grace for. Their eyes shined wide behind their face shields but they didn’t balk or back away. Once the portal stabilized, I went over to it.

  “Howdy, gentlemen. Welcome to the Isle of Man,” I told them with a grin. “Come and join me.”

  The soldier in charge, a lean and grizzled vet by the look of him, Sergeant Morrill, peeled off and barked out orders for the men to advance through the portal. I stepped out of the way and let him do his job until all the DSI grunts had made it through. After that, I waved to Rachelle and she sealed both gates, returning to her work on the other side, leaving me alone with the men.

  “Okay, folks, this is gonna be a recon mission of sorts in hostile territory but you’ll be the baddest motherfuckers in the theater.” Well, during the day, at least.

  I went on to explain what I needed of them and what kind of enemies they’d possibly run into and made sure they understood it was best to go balls to the wall and get this done fast if they wanted to come home to their families. Much as I hated sending the soldiers to do my dirty work—

  Nah, who am I kidding? I loved having cannon fodder.

  Once I finished explaining everything and clarifying their mission, not to mention the need for speed, greeting everything they ran into with extreme prejudice, I pulled out the cipher and handed it to Sergeant Morrill. “This is the most important tool you’ll have in there. Don’t lose it.” I took a few minutes to explain how to use the cipher once they reached their destination and had him repeat it all back to me. He did so without issue. He was ready. I only hoped I was doing the right thing. Despite my jokes, a lot of lives were riding on my decisions.

  That settling over my shoulders, I went over to the spot where Rala had sat with the book, reciting the spell that would open the Interstice. I could almost feel her there. The whole thing was surreal, the thought of what I was about to attempt a scary one. Still, I needed to go through with it in order to confirm the prison realm as Shaw’s hideout.

  “You ready, Sergeant?”

  He offered up a grunt and a half-nod.

  “Good enough for government work,” I muttered, and let the reins slip on Lucifer’s memory.

  Apparently, the asshole had been using the Interstice as a gateway between Earth and whatever universe God was waging His war in that week. I hadn’t known that until I started thinking about how I was going to access the place and all this information flooded my head. Lucifer knew the spell forward and backward, and that meant I knew it, too, now that he’d cracked my skull with that damn chalice. Though I had to admit, being able to dig into his memories for information when I needed it was a hell of an advantage.

  In a book, this might be called deus ex machina—or deus ex Satanica, in this case—but fuck it, we all steal the answer key to the test at least once in our lives.

  I let his memory of the spell slither from my head to my tongue and the words spilled out of me in a blur, the dimensional wall tearing apart at the seams with ease, answering my question as to how simple it would be for someone else to do it. Not a few breaths later, it was done, and I was staring through a hole in the world, looking down upon the Interstice, the crazy red and blue trees filling my vision. I heard the men gasps, a bunch of them whispering among themselves.

  I muttered the words to hold the portal stable and turned to the men. “I know it looks weird,” and it really was, “but the world nullifies supernatural powers. It doesn’t, however, do shit to technology. You can mow down the worst of what this world has to offer in mere seconds.” I hoped. “Still, don’t drag this out. Get in, get the intel I need, and get the fuck out. You don’t want to spend a bunch of time sightseeing. Understand?”

  Sergeant Morrill nodded. “All right, men, make ready to rappel.” The soldiers jumped at his orders, prepping a bunch of stakes so they could climb down into the Interstice rather than topple, which had been my go-to move every time I went inside, seeing how the realms merged at different heights for some inane reason.

  When his men had started in, soldiers arrayed up top to protect those first on the ground, I motioned the sergeant over. “If you run into Shaw or Venai, you cut them down, no hesitation. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” he answered, meeting my eyes. I could tell he understood.

  “All right then, Sergeant. You and your men be safe. Like I told you, there’s no way out but through the other side, using that key I gave you. You get bogged down or lose that thing and there won’t be any cavalry riding in to save your asses. You’ll be stuck forever in another dimension. One without TV, booze, or showered women.”

  He chuckled. “Understood, sir. See you on the other side.”

  The sergeant went to oversee the remaining insertion and followed them down once he was satisfied with their progress. My phone rang as soon as he started after them.

  “Hal’s Morgue. You stab `em, we tag `em,” I answered.

  “What?” Kit’s confused voice crackled through the line.

  “What?” I repeated.

  She sighed, realizing it was me and she hadn’t dialed the wrong number. “I’m going to stop calling you.”

  “But you’ve only just started calling.” I watched as the last of the soldier vanished through the portal. Once they were on the ground, I disengaged their rappelling gear and tossed it in after the men in case they needed the stuff.

  “We’ve got a problem,” Kit told me.

  “It’s not mine. I was in Helsinki that week.”

  “Seriously, Frank,” she said, but I could hear the barest hint of amusement in her voice. I was wearing her down, like a long soak in an acid bath. “You need to get back here now. There’s trouble brewing.”

  Wasn’t that always the case?

  “All right. On my way,” I said, flipping the cell closed. “This is why I hate phones.”

  With a thought, I let the magic holding the portal drop and watched it seal shut, locking the men in the Interstice. They were in for a hell of an experience. Still, for all my guilt—which is really a relative term with me—I was glad it wasn’t me tromping through there again. Not that the bullshit on this side of the gate was all that much better. Wondering what the problem was that had Kit so riled up, I teleported back to DSI headquarters, preparing for the worst.

  Ten

  I stood before a massive, flat screen television mounted to the wall in a staff lounge, my stomach doing flips, the team gathered around, returned from the hunt of Fantasma in the wake of the most recent news. Even Styg had joined us, his mopey ass lurking at the back of the room and not saying a word.

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Looks like she took a page out of your book, Frank,” Grace told me.

  “Ri
ght?” Kit said, piling on. “I don’t imagine his book has all that many pages to begin with, but what do you think will happen next?” she asked Grace.

  “Nukes?”

  “Maybe they’ll drag us into another world where ancient beings reside, just waiting to be released so they can wreak havoc on the world.”

  The two of them chuckled at my expense but I couldn’t blame them. They were right, though you’d never hear me admit that in public. This shit was on me.

  “Shhhh. I want to hear this.” I really didn’t, I just wanted them to shut up. They giggled in spite of me.

  On the screen was a reporter, her hair blowing in the breeze as she met the camera’s eye with rigid professionalism, microphone clutched in her hand. “To continue, we here at WLBC have received a video from an anonymous source that reports to show what happened at the Cavalier building in downtown El Paseo, leading up to the explosion that devastated the surrounding buildings and claimed the life of a dozen residents and injured hundreds more, the final count yet to be tallied.”

  The camera panned over her shoulder to show the wreckage of Maximus’s former office and the area around it. Workers in bright yellow vests swarmed the site like ants, and the camera held steady on them until slowly drifting back to the reporter.

  “As you can see, the Del Valle district is in ruins and rescue operations continue, the mayor assuring us that the city will not rest until everyone is accounted for and the criminals seen in the video footage we’re about to show you are brought to justice.” The woman faded and the screen went black as the video was synched.

  “Care to wager on whose TV debut we’re about to witness?” Grace asked Kit.

  “Fuck no. It’s pretty much a lock, I’d say.”

  I could feel their eyes on me as the video started, so flipped them off over my shoulder.

  “Looks like you pissed the boss off, ladies,” Thud said, joining the fun.

  “I’ve a third digit I can use to show you what I think, Thud,” I told him.

  “You’d have to get closer for me to see it.”

  I sighed and tuned them out as there, on the big screen, was us as we’d appeared at the café, powers flaring and bodies falling, clear as fucking day. And while that might well have been bad enough, someone had superimposed the Del Valle district around us, making it seem as if we were running rampant in the middle of downtown, killing people and tearing the place down right before the explosion went off and turned the image into a smear of gray dust that whipped past the camera and knocked it out.”

  The reporter reappeared, her hair now clipped back. “Homeland security has raised the alert to red and asks that all citizens of El Paseo remain in their homes in the wake of this blatant attack upon our city. They ask that…

  “The only thing more blatant is the bullshit this station is spewing. That’s the worst damn Photoshop effort I’ve ever seen,” Kit said, coming up alongside me. “It’s like a kid’s video project for middle school, for Christ’s sake.”

  “Does it matter though?” I asked. We all knew it didn’t. Shaw had set us up and the quality of the video wasn’t in question. People would believe it, and that was all that mattered. Less than pleased with her bullshit, and knowing Maximus was gonna pop in soon enough to ream my ass, I tuned the reporter back in.

  Then immediately wished I hadn’t.

  “One of the suspects in the video has terrorized our fair city once before, having been caught on tape when he assaulted several police officers after murdering—”

  I put my fist through the TV, and the wall behind it, shattering the screen and sending sparks flying, silencing the woman’s next words. My cheeks burning like twin suns, I withdrew my hand, glass shards and coiled electronics falling to the floor, the TV’s innards spilling out.

  “Really? You had to kill the TV? Maybe you could have, I don’t know, pressed the off button on the remote,” Thud told me, holding the slim black thing up. “It’s got little infrared gnomes in here that translate the signal—”

  The world went red and I spun and grabbed Thud behind the neck, slamming my elbow into his chin and turning him about so I could drive him into the wrecked TV.

  “Now is not the time, motherfucker.” His jaw creaked beneath the pressure and there was no mistaking the fear that gleamed in his eyes as he dangled a foot above the floor. A trickle of blood ran from his lip and across my arm, my eyes trailed it until it fell away.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Kit forced her way between us, slipping behind my arm and wedging her slim body against me, trying to leverage me loose of Thud. It took every ounce of restraint I had to not twist the demon’s head from his neck. Even then, with Kit so close to me that I could feel the warmth of her skin, smell the mint on her breath, I resisted letting him go, my fury overriding everything. That tiny voice of reason inside me told me there was no way Thud was smart enough to realize what had lit the fuse in me, but I still wanted to kill him. I pressed harder against his jaw, forcing him to grunt, his head creeping sideways at an awkward angle. Something would give soon and it wasn’t my arm.

  “Hey,” I heard Kit say, her voice rough from being crushed between us, her lips right up against my ear. “As much of an asshole as he is, Thud doesn’t deserve this. Let him go, Frank.”

  I growled, blinking away the rage that colored my vision, slowly realizing that Thud’s face was turning a deep shade of violet, my hold cutting off his carotid arteries. His eyes were glazed, and I could feel him going limp against my arm. That was when her words sank in and I let him go, my knuckles popping as I did.

  I staggered back, Kit staying against me, staying between me and the other demon, while Grace and Styg grabbed a hold of him, helping him to the couch. My stomach tightened at what I’d done. Much as Thud pissed me off, Kit had been right, he hadn’t deserved what I was about to do to him. And all because…

  My head swam and I felt the rage welling up again, so I turned and stormed from the room, contrails of murderous thoughts trailing behind me. The last thing I needed to do was lose control. I staggered down the empty hallway, my hand trailing the wall to keep me upright, until I reached the end, a closed door blocking my path, and then I collapsed to my knees. Tears hit the tiles beneath me before I’d even realized I’d shed them, my eyes blurring under the salty barrage. A ragged gasp slipped loose, the sound alien to my ears.

  And then Kit’s arms were around me. I started, stiffening in her grasp, readying to shake her off, but I heard her voice, the words breaking through the haze of my despair.

  “Whatever it is, let it out,” she told me, her lithe arms squeezing me into her side, supporting me. “Let it out.”

  And, as much as I hate to admit being a whiny little punk, I did just that.

  I couldn’t help myself. All the shit I’d bottled up behind the booze and heroin broke loose and I crumpled to the floor, a shuddering sob breaking free. Kit held me tighter, dropping down alongside me, cradling me in her arms.

  Despite what I’d done to Karra’s killers, ensuring they would never again hurt anyone, there was still a pulsing wound where she had been ripped from me. The hole was cancerous, the edges raw and rotting, the nerves exposed and shrieking. Bile filled the back of my throat.

  “It’s okay, Frank.” Kit’s voice flowed over me.

  I knew she meant well, but it wasn’t okay. It couldn’t ever be.

  Seeing the news footage from that night was a blade slipped between my ribs, a reminder of my failure to protect her, to save my beloved, the mother of my child. Karra had died because I’d been weak.

  Logic warred with emotion, putting the lie to my thoughts, but that didn’t make it any better. It should have been me. I should have been the one to engage Trinity, to die while Karra fled with Abigail. It would have ended there, my family alive and safe. I would have gladly surrendered my life to keep Karra alive.

  All that spilled out of me then, my cheek pressed against the cold tiles, the pool of my tears threatening to dr
own me as I trembled in the throes of my anguish.

  I don’t know how long I’d laid there, but the world seemed to have crept back around when I wasn’t looking. Kit still clung to my back, but she’d dug up some tissues at some point and was busy wiping my face clean as I came to and struggled to sit upright. Still a bit dazed, I just sat there as she finished her ministrations and tossed the wet tissues aside. Her face was indistinct, caught in the haze of my confusion, her piercings shining brightly beneath the fluorescent lights. She sat back on her haunches, watching me, and it took a few minutes for me to find my voice.

  “Thank you.”

  She nodded, not saying a word as if unsure whether or not she would set me off.

  “I’m okay,” I told her, forcing a weak laugh. “Just that time of the month, you know?”

  She grinned, shaking her head. “Yup, you’re back to being you.”

  I sighed, thinking I should get to my feet and get on with life, but I couldn’t find the energy right then so I just stayed where I was. Kit did as well, her eyes never leaving mine while I struggled to find my bearings.

  “Can you stop staring at me?” I asked. “You’re making me nervous.” It was weird having her there, being so comforting, seeing how all we’d ever done was butt heads.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  With my chin, I motioned toward the end of the hall, to the door that led to the lounge. “He okay?”

  Kit chuckled. “He wants to kill you, but he’ll be fine.”

  I let out a long sigh. “Good.” And, to my surprise, I meant it. I hadn’t wanted to hurt Thud, I’d simply lost control when the reporter touched on Karra’s death, laying it at my feet. It was true enough, but not like they were making it out to be. “I guess I should go apologize.”

  “Should probably give him some space,” she suggested, a smirk making the piercings at her lips jiggle. “You wouldn’t want to have to kill him for real because he’s not ready to let shit go.”

  I nodded, understanding how he felt. I would have been the same way had it been the other way around. “We should probably get back to work. The world is falling apart apparently.”