by Michael Todd
Korbin shifted his eyes to stare out the window at the passing clouds. The day had been long, and it was already deep into the night. He sighed and kept his eyes on the outside world.
“Or it might be too damned easy, which is just as troubling,” Korbin told her, still looking out the window.
“Why?” Katie leaned toward him. “If the choice is easy, wouldn’t that mean the answer might be easy as well?”
“Evolution isn’t just something that affects humans and animals,” he said. “It affects us all in different ways. Everything evolves, sometimes for the best and sometimes not. This war is no different. It is constantly evolving as well.”
“I don’t understand how that would make an easy choice troubling,” Katie said. “You are always making difficult decisions, so it seems like an easy one would be good for once. A way for you to exhale.”
“Or it means the war has changed,” Korbin said, turning his gaze back to Katie. “It means that we as a team…we all have to change with it.”
Katie’s eyes followed Korbin’s around the room, resting on each of their teammates for a moment before moving on.
They were all carefree right now. Just relaxing, riding along in the jet without any idea that something big was happening to the world around them.
Katie wanted to believe that it was a fluke—that her change might have made things appear different, but in reality they were still the same. However, as the world below soared past them and with Pandora settled quietly in her gut, she felt Korbin was right.
There was a chance that like everything else, this war had evolved, and she was the next step in the evolution of the Damned.
But if that were true, what would happen to people like Derek and Calvin? Would they fight until they were extinct? Would they follow in her footsteps and use their demons to fight back?
Or would she be at the helm, the last hope for humanity?
Katie shivered at the thought, wrapping her arms around herself. She had come into the whole situation with no choice, and made the best of it that she could.
She had never thought for a second that she would be something different than the others. She had never thought so many people would be relying on her for safety and security.
For a moment she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, and imagined that was how Korbin felt every day of his life—trying to navigate the messy and dangerous maze they were running through head-first with no idea of what was around the next corner.
For the first time since she had been Damned, Katie felt completely alone.
Chapter Fourteen
The rest of the flight was quiet.
Katie didn’t know what else to say to Korbin. She felt like she should apologize, but she had no idea what for.
She was the way she was, and it wasn’t on purpose, or of her own doing at all. She knew that when it came down to it, though, he would make the choice that was best for everyone.
She had to find solace in the fact that no matter what happened, she would be taken care of and her life had meant something.
As the plane began its descent back into McCarran International airport in Las Vegas, Korbin got up and walked to the front of the cabin. Everyone sat up and took their headphones off, showing the respect they usually did when Korbin got up to speak.
“All right, everyone.” He looked around. “You’re tired, I get it. We’ll load up the SUVs with all our gear and head back. Let’s make sure everything is put away before we head off for some R&R, please. It’s important we keep things straight and ready to go for our next call. We all know that can come at any moment.”
Derek yawned. “Especially these daaaayyyss…”
Korbin nodded his head and took his seat again to wait for the plane to land.
The team worked hard, transferring everything from the plane into the vehicles. Damian double-checked the jet, and was the last person into the second SUV. He looked at Katie and smiled before nodding to Calvin in his own ride.
Jeremy winced as he looked down at the deep gash in his thigh.
Eric went to grab his med kit…and realized it was at the base in the supply room, sitting right where he’d packed it before the op. He’d been so focused on the possibility of acquiring a demon on this trip that he’d walked off without it.
“Man,” Eric said, “that looks like it hurts.”
“You think?” Jeremy retorted, eyebrows high.
“I…um…left my med kit at the base. When we get back, I’ll get you taken care of,” Eric told him.
“I’m probably going to need a couple stitches too,” Derek mentioned from up front. “One of the demons got me good in the shoulder. I’d rather get it taken care of now than get an infection.”
Katie glanced at Korbin. She could tell that he was listening intently and trying to keep his anger at bay.
Eric was the team medic—the guy who should theoretically have everything the team needed with him at all times.
Instead, he had been too worried about finding his own fucking demon to infect himself with to tend to the needs of the team.
Katie could tell by the look on Korbin’s face that he was gonna make sure Eric never made that mistake again.
“Let me ask you a question, Eric,” Korbin said, turning around in his seat. “If Jeremy had been fighting the demon and that laceration had severed his leg, do you think he would have survived the flight back and the drive to the base?”
“No, I suppose he wouldn’t have,” Eric said. “This was my first time out and I, uh…I guess I got a little ahead of myself when we were rushing to leave.”
“Your mistake could have meant someone else’s life.” Korbin allowed a bit of the anger to seep into his voice. “You aren’t thinking about anyone but yourself right now. I don’t know if you came here to find a demon or to be part of this team, but you better get your head on straight before someone dies. Do you really want that on your conscience?”
“Of course not,” Eric admitted, irritation in his voice. “I made a mistake, and it won’t happen again.”
“It better not,” Korbin finished, turning back around.
“Look, we’re a team here, and we all have our responsibilities. Yours is to make sure that we are taken care of medically,” Derek said, not taking his eyes off the road. “We have to be able to trust you.”
“And you will be,” Eric replied.
The two SUVs pulled through the gate and parked and everyone filed out. When they started to unload the gear, Katie patted Eric on the shoulder and gave him a smile to let him know she knew how it felt to be the odd man out. He sighed and shook his head. When it was Katie’s turn to grab a bag to take it inside, Korbin stopped her.
“Come with me. I wanna show you something.” Korbin nodded off to the side.
“I got this.” Derek nudged her out of the way with a grin. “Go see what the big man has to show you.”
Katie put down the bag and followed Korbin out the side door. She put her hand up to the side of her face to try to block the blowing sand that was moving with the wind across the desert.
Korbin led her around the side of the building and down the walkway toward a cluster of buildings that she hadn’t been to before.
When they reached the intricate wrought iron gate, Korbin stopped and pulled a thickly populated key ring from his pocket. He fiddled through the keys for a while before stopping at an old-style iron key. He glanced at Katie for a moment, then unlocked the padlock and pulled the chain through the bars of the gate.
The gate creaked and moaned as he pulled it open, and for a moment it hung up. Korbin got a better grip and yanked it open, then walked forward into an area that at one point had obviously been some sort of garden. Katie wasn’t quite sure where he was taking her, but after the showing in the car she wasn’t about to question him.
He stopped in front of tall metal doors. It was dark out, but the light from the adjacent buildings illuminated the space enough to show its true
form.
“I think you’ll find this helpful,” Korbin said with a smirk.
The outside of the building was relatively plain. It had two levels and was built of sand-worn red brick, but it had absolutely no charm to it whatsoever. Korbin pushed open the doors, letting just a bit of light inside. He pulled off a flashlight he had clipped to his harness and clicked it on before continuing inside, leaving Katie standing in the doorway.
Katie squinted into the darkness to figure out where Korbin had gone. She heard a click as the breaker was thrown, and suddenly lights illuminated the space. It was over twenty thousand square feet, with tall ceilings, concrete floors, and a completely open floor plan.
Korbin came out of a hallway and waved her over to him. “This part wouldn’t be good for you. Follow me.”
“All right.” Katie stepped inside and stepped lively to catch up to him.
They walked across the space to another door, and when Korbin opened it there was a large staircase descending downward.
The two of them took the stairs quietly, but Katie kept glancing around, waiting for a demon to jump out. When they reached the bottom there was another door, and when they stepped inside, Katie nodded in understanding.
Korbin pointed to the open space, which smelled a bit like old oil. “This area is about three thousand square feet. It’s considered the basement, and that far wall is exactly five feet of soil and rock from our building,” he told her, turning to her and smiling. “With maybe three days of work—give or take, depending on calls— we would have a secret way to get into the building and back out again. We would have to do it ourselves, though. We can’t let the higher ups know about it.”
“I understand,” she said, narrowing her eyes and staring around the space.
There was definitely enough lighting, and they could clean it up to the point where Joshua could live down here if he wanted to.
She didn’t imagine that he would need that large of a living space, but he would have to be protected just as thoroughly as the product would be. Without him there was no product, and from his reaction to her having a demon inside of her, she was pretty sure he would feel more comfortable on his own anyway.
“We can store the product here, and if anyone tries to get in, we pull it and make it look like not much was in here,” Korbin declared. “We could put all the weapons inside lockers on wheels to get it out quickly.”
“I want this place to be safe for Joshua,” Katie told him. “He is just as important as the product—and arguably more critical.”
“Understood.” Korbin nodded. “This is probably safer than any other area of the base. Nothing I’ve given the higher-ups mentions these buildings.”
Katie looked at him. “I appreciate this, Korbin.” She chewed the inside of her lips in thought. “This is exactly what I need to make this work, and it will be good for all of us.”
Korbin nodded, and looked around the space as if he hadn’t been in there in years.
Katie walked over to the far wall and imagined a large door leading to a tunnel—a secret passage from the weapons to the base. This was the perfect place to have something like that. Something important—sacred even—and she wasn’t considering the money in her equations.
“The tunnel is on you, right?” Katie said with a smirk, one eyebrow raised.
Korbin chuckled as he looked down at the knife in his sheath. He fiddled with it for a moment before looking up at Katie.
She cleared her throat uneasily.
“Yeah,” he told her. “I’ll pay for the tunnel. You just make sure it stays secure, and that this kid is doing what he says he can do.”
“Oh, no doubt,” Katie replied. “I’ll beat him into submission.”
Korbin looked at her with a furrowed brow.
“I’m kidding.” She laughed. “Fuck, this kid is scared enough. I don’t think I’ll have to do anything but walk into the room and he’ll fold. He about pissed himself when he realized he had made a deal with a Damned.” She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger. “But you guys have to be nice to him. He’s good people, I can tell, and his pops was on one of the teams.”
“I’m not the one to tell that to.” He waved a hand. “Your boys are the wild ones.”
“My boys?” Katie laughed. “You’re the boss, boss.”
It’s about time you stopped talking about that stupid fucking job and got back to base, Pandora growled. I have some serious soaps to catch up on, not to mention that there was an all-new Make A Deal on today. I want to see what kind of slutty costumes they all wore this time.
I have things to do, Katie said, walking to the elevator. We just got back.
And I have been waiting patiently all damn day, Pandora told her. So, what do you think? Where did John go? Do you think he skipped town? Or do you think he went back with that skank Terry? I bet you he went to the skank. Men can’t refuse a fucking skank. She was so obvious with her tight skirts and the way she batted her eyelashes at him. She tried to lie and say she was done, but dammit, I know better than that. Men like him always end up with the whore before they end up with the good girl, who ends up with sloppy fucking seconds.
Katie ignored Pandora’s ramblings about the soap. Katie had been the first one to get hooked on it, but now Pandora constantly talked about it, which made it much less enjoyable for Katie.
She just shook her head and exited the elevator on the main floor. The guys were all relaxing, except Damian, who had gone to the chapel. Jeremy was sitting at the table with a bandage around his arm and a sandwich in his mouth.
“How’s your leg?” Katie asked.
“Not bad,” he said. “Eric is actually really good at that stitching shit. He put some medicine on there and I barely felt it.”
“Good.” Katie chuckled, looking at Derek and Eric.
Derek was straddling a chair backward and had his shirt off. Eric was leaning over him and pulling together a pretty sizeable gash in his shoulder, threading the needle through his skin. Derek didn’t even flinch. He just stared down at his phone, perusing his social media page and laughing at stupid pictures like nothing else was going on.
“And how are you?” Calvin asked, walking out of the kitchen with a plate of food. “You hungry? I made some spaghetti.”
“No.” Katie smiled. “Thanks, though. I’m doing okay. Just glad to be back home.”
“Will I eventually think of this place as home?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah, if you don’t go getting your arm chopped off.” Katie floated him a quick grin.
“What happens if I do?” he asked with worry in his eyes.
“We use you for practice,” Calvin deadpanned.
“You guys are horrible,” Katie said, shaking her head at Jeremy’s terrified look. “We really don’t know. That’s never happened, and we would like it to stay that way.”
“Right,” Jeremy said, throwing a chip at Calvin. He caught it and tossed the chip into his mouth.
“All right, guys, I’m downstairs if you need me.” Katie waved and walked toward the elevator.
“That’s why she’s the best,” Calvin said to the rest of the guys as she was leaving. “She never stops.”
Or because she has me, you fucking blubbering idiot, Pandora grumbled. I swear these fuckers haven’t a damned clue.
Calm down, Katie told Pandora as she made her way down to the gym.
When Katie reached the training area she flicked on the lights and looked around the space, not used to being there without the guys.
She shrugged off the weird feeling and headed to the weight benches to start her workout. First, she did her arms, since her upper body strength needed the most improvement.
You are such a bleeding meat socket, Pandora mumbled. You are purposely not letting me watch my shows. I think you like to torture me.
Stop being so dramatic. Katie sighed. I have got to get stronger. Better, even.
Why? I am the muscle behind this whole thing. Pandora scoffed.
Because the stronger I am, the more I can use your strength, Katie replied. Besides, you need me to stay alive so you can get your vengeance on T’Chezz.
Oh, Pandora whispered. You heard, and understood that, did you?
Uh, yeah! Katie grunted her laughter as she pushed the bar back up. You may have been in charge at that moment, but I saw, heard, and felt everything you did. I could tell that whoever this T’Chezz character is, he better watch out because you are more than just pissed at him.
I have every right, Pandora growled.
I’m not judging, Katie told her, allowing the bar to drop before pushing it up again. She wasn’t repping too hard, since she had no spotter. But we will need to negotiate that whole thing. I’m not stepping foot into your realm until I understand not only our agreement, but who exactly you are taking me up against. I don’t want to die down there and be stuck with you and whoever this pissed-on demon is.
Well, fuck. Pandora sighed. Fine, but if you are going to work out you better stop with this measly little up-down shit. Go grab a heavier weight. You have to be ready for one hell of a demon, no pun intended, and I am just the trainer you need.
“Oh, joy,” Katie said out loud, walking back over to the rack of weights. “Boot camp commences.”
Try “Hell Camp.” Pandora laughed.
Chapter Fifteen
After the workout Katie went up to her room, showered, changed, and came back out. She didn’t see sleeping anytime soon with Pandora breathing down her neck.
She curled up on the sofa and turned on the television, going back through the DVR list to find the episodes they had recorded. She settled in and pressed Play, laughing to herself as Pandora hummed along enthusiastically with the intro music.
She had made Katie suffer during training earlier that night, and was definitely happy to be watching the shows now. As the opening credits ended, Derek wandered in and sat down on the couch next to her.