Protected by the Damned BoxedSet 1

by Michael Todd

  “All right, boys, let’s get ‘em good,” Korbin said.

  They waited until Damian’s team had driven to the front of the house before piling out of the SUV and taking off in their respective directions. The demons scattered, and Calvin counted at least six of them on the ground. He looked at Jeremy as he crept in the other direction, then knelt behind a bush next to Korbin. They peeked around it, watching one demon drag a dead human body to the side, growling and snarling as it ripped into the woman’s flesh.

  “That caviar-infused body lotion ain’t gonna do shit for that rich bitch anymore,” Calvin whispered.

  Korbin looked at him. “I have an idea. You ever play games like Duck Hunt?”

  Calvin chuckled. “Yeah.”

  “I’m gonna creep up the side and push the demons out of hiding,” he explained. “When they step into the open, shoot them square in the head with that rifle you got. Sound good?”

  “Works for me, boss,” he said, knowing Korbin was only doing that to keep things light for him.

  Korbin nodded and pulled out his pistols, checking out the side of the house before making a run for it. He pressed his back against the house and shinnied along, rattling the bushes as he went. Two demons suddenly ran out ahead of him, and Calvin took aim. Slowly he breathed out and pulled the trigger, shooting one of the demons in the neck. The other panicked, not knowing where the shot had come from, and ran straight toward Calvin, giving him a clean shot right between the eyes. Both demons fell into a pile on the ground, and their bodies slowly morphed back into the humans they had taken over.

  Calvin smiled, and looked up fast at the sound of a twig cracking. Straight down the side of the sandy yard, a demon was creeping around a potted bush. Calvin steadied his rifle and looked through the sight, letting out another long deep breath before pulling the trigger. Korbin laughed, watching the demon writhe and growl until its body turned to dust. Just then two demons darted from behind the house, tackling Korbin to the ground. He pulled his pistol up and shot one of the demons in the head, before the other knocked the pistol from his hand and pinned his arms to the ground. Calvin moved the rifle back and forth to try to get a good shot, but with Korbin struggling it was too risky.

  “Lay flat,” Calvin yelled.

  Korbin released his muscles and laid flat on the ground. As soon as his body cleared the shot Calvin took it, hitting the demon in the side of the head. Korbin wrinkled his nose and spat out demon blood, pushing the dead body off himself before it turned to dust. He looked at Calvin and gave him a thumbs-up.

  Calvin pointed the rifle at the ground, pulled out another clip, and slotted it in after removing the empty one.

  He chuckled and shook his head, freezing as he felt the hot breath of a demon on his neck. He set the gun on the ground and slowly turned around, staring straight into the beast’s eyes. Calvin reached for his knife, but before he could grab it the demon pounced, pushing Calvin down onto his back. Calvin was powerless to move; it had all happened so fast. He could hear Korbin’s voice in slow motion as the beast pulled his arm back to strike. Calvin closed his eyes and waited for the pain—for the end—but it never came.

  When he heard a gurgle he opened his eyes and stared up at the demon, who was holding his throat, his eyes wide. As his body began to go limp Jeremy tossed it to the side, looking somewhat the worse for wear. His eyes were dark, his lip was bleeding, and he had sand all over him. He panted as he reached down to help Calvin to his feet.

  “Thanks, man,” Calvin said, shaking his head. “I thought that was really the end, I’m not going to lie.”

  “You all right?” Korbin asked as he jogged up. “Good work, Jeremy. What happened?”

  “You guys…” He paused to try to catch his breath. “You didn’t answer the comm.”

  “My earpiece fell out when those bastards tackled me,” Korbin told him.

  “I guess mine isn’t working.” Calvin tapped it. “Are you okay? How many were there?”

  “Four.” Jeremy was still panting hard. “Four vicious dirty motherfuckers, and I ran out of ammo.”

  “Shit!” Calvin exclaimed. “And you took all four on your own?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “And I don’t want to do that again. One got me pretty damn good.”

  Jeremy turned and showed his upper arm, where a deep gash bled hard through a rip in his shirt. Korbin ripped open the shirt to look at the laceration, and Jeremy winced as Korbin pushed on the skin.

  “He really did a number,” Korbin agreed. “But I don’t have time to stitch you up right now.”

  As Korbin ripped a strip of fabric from the bottom of his shirt and tied it around the wound, Calvin turned and looked at the house; he could see flashes from gunfire inside. Team One had found demons.

  “Did the other team say anything on the comm?” Calvin asked.

  “No.” Jeremy groaned as Korbin pulled the fabric tighter. “Not a peep.”

  “Should we go in?” Calvin put his rifle on his back and pulled out his short sword.

  “Not yet,” Korbin told them. “We’ll let them do their thing. With our earpieces not working, we could easily be injured by friendly fire. Jeremy, I want you to listen. Keep listening, and if you hear anything from the other team about needing help or someone going down, I want you to tell me immediately. We won’t leave them hanging.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katie climbed back into the SUV and waited for Damian, Eric, and Derek to situate themselves. Derek pulled out a blueprint of the house and handed it to Damian, who spread it out on the dash. The place was big but pretty open, which was good—there wouldn’t be that many hiding places for the demons to scurry off to. Damian pulled out a pen and made three big circles on the map.

  “Okay, this is how we are going to work it,” Damian started. “Eric, when we go in, you and I are going to head straight up the main staircase to the second floor. When we reach the top, I will go left, and you go right. Katie, you have the entire bottom floor including the garage, which looks pretty big.”

  “Got it.” Katie looked at the blueprint.

  “The bedrooms will be the worst danger zones, so make sure to use your mirrors to check inside rather than just blowing into a room,” Damian said. “Katie, you have six large rooms to check, but the only one that looks like there will be a lot of places to hide is the office on the ground level. Take the big rooms first. Work your way from one side to the other so that you know nothing will be sneaking up behind you.”

  “Right,” Katie agreed.

  “Eric, just kill the demons. No questions,” Damian ordered.

  “Katie…well, use your judgment, but don’t be a hero,” he declared. “If you can save a life, fine, but if not take them out.”

  Katie nodded. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  “Everyone, make sure to have your earpieces in and on. I don’t want there to be any miscommunication,” Damian instructed. “If a demon gets away from one of us, we need to let Katie know so she can be on the lookout for it.”

  “Got it,” Eric confirmed, nodding.

  “All right, guys, let’s make this quick and painless, I want to be home for dinner.” Damian smiled.

  Yes, dinner, Pandora replied.

  Don’t start, Katie warned.

  They drove off after Korbin and the others had already made their way to the house. They passed the SUV, which had pulled into the grass in front of the house. Katie had her pistol in one hand, and her knife in the other. Damian looked back at her and nodded before getting out of the car. Katie looked at Eric.

  “I’ll be okay,” he assured her. “Just keep your earpiece on.

  Katie nodded and got out of the car, crouching as she moved up to the front door. Damian grabbed the handle and looked at Katie, who had her gun at the ready. Quickly, he pushed open the door and lifted his weapon. Katie peered into the grand entry, but saw and heard nothing—though her demon senses were tingling.

  They cleared the fo
yer and looked at each other. Damian nodded to Eric and then Katie, and she stood watch as they slowly made their way up the grand staircase and split at the top, one going right and the other left.

  Eric crept slowly down the hallway, pulling out his mirror and bending it around each of the open doors. He cleared every bedroom one at a time, but didn’t find anything.

  When he reached the last door at the very end of the hall, he stopped and listened to a strange sound from inside. It was like muffled snarling, so he knew there had to be some kind of demon involved. He reached for the door handle and took a deep breath, then flung it open and raised his gun. He peered over his weapon with disgust and awe on his face. The demon was standing facing him, holding one of the victim’s heads and chewing on its cheek. The thing didn’t even stop when Eric walked in, which threw him off.

  He shook his head and let out a deep breath, firing three shots into the demon through the human head. He flinched as blood sprayed all over his face. He wiped his eyes and looked down at the demon’s body on the floor, which writhed for a moment before turning to dust. Eric shook his head, not quite used to seeing crazy shit like that, and left the room, closing the door behind him. As he stepped forward, not really paying attention, a body dropped onto him from the ceiling and he crashed through one of the bedroom doors. Eric rolled across the floor, groaning, and came to a stop at the foot of the bed.

  He shook his head and blinked at the demon, this one licking its lips and crawling toward him on all fours. Eric reached for his gun, but realized he had dropped it when he went flying.

  The beast snarled, then a grin moving across its black scaly lips. Eric panicked as the beast moved toward him.

  When the demon’s face was just inches from his, it licked his cheek. He slid his hand down to his belt, grabbing the handle of his knife.

  He slowly pulled it out, waiting for the right moment. The demon didn’t notice, just leaned its head back and opened its mouth wide to reveal row upon row of sharp, jagged teeth.

  “Get in there, fucker!” As it lunged Eric shoved his knife up through the beast’s chin, pushing hard until it pierced its brain.

  The demon fell backward and Eric stood, moving to the side, breathing hard with fear.

  The demon got to its hooves and yanked the knife from its chin, staring at Eric a moment before dropping it on the floor. He glanced at the knife, then collapsed.

  Eric watched as the demon transformed back into its human form, now lifeless on the black Persian rug. He stared down at the body of a young woman not much older than eighteen. His heart swelled, and he shook his head, unable to speak. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

  This wasn’t what he had expected at all.

  Damian slunk through the halls in a crouch, looking for any sign of demon presence. All the doors were shut, and slowly he cleared the rooms. When he was done, he stood in the hallway looking perplexed.

  He hadn’t found a single demon; not one. He figured that maybe they had all ended up in another area, or possibly even outside. He started to walk forward and stopped, hearing scraping noises above him. He slowly looked up, but there was nothing there. He stood silently, listening for the sound again. When he was about to give up he heard it, like nails, or claws dragging along the wood floors above him. He turned back toward the end of the hallway and noticed a string hanging from the ceiling. It was the entrance to the attic, and there was light shining around the edges of the door.

  “Of course.” Damian groaned. “Just my luck.”

  He walked over to the string and stood back, giving it a yank. The door opened, and a ladder tumbled down, forcing Damian to jump back farther, and he fell. He put his hand over his heart and breathed heavily, startled.

  After he had gathered himself again, he pulled himself up and began to climb the ladder, cross in one hand and short sword in the other. He reached the opening and made the sign of the cross before entering.

  Quickly he levered up, pushing half his body through the opening and looking around. He didn’t see anything unusual, just the normal dustiness of an old attic. He had just turned his head to look to the right when a demon popped out of who-knew-where to hiss in his face. Damian yelled and pushed his cross into the demon’s face, which resulted in wails and its skin sizzling.

  Or was that him wailing? Nope, he was a badass demon hunter, and badass demon hunters did not wail.

  The demon fell forward onto Damian, pushing them both down the ladder and to the hall floor. Damian landed with a thump, the demon still on top of him. He groaned, pushing the beast off him, wincing at the condition of its face where the cross had burned off the flesh.

  When he leaned forward to see if he could tell if there was a life force still inside, the demon’s eyes blew open and he lunged toward the priest, sinking its teeth into his shoulder. Damian screamed, throwing the demon off him and slashing his sword through the air. It made contact with its neck, and the body dropped as the head rolled down the hallway, coming to a stop right at the top of the stairs. Damian leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. He looked at his shoulder, where necrosis was starting to spread from the bite.

  Damian pulled a purple sash from his bag and wrapped it around the wound, shaking his head in disbelief. Slowly he climbed back up the ladder and lifted himself inside, looking around at the mess. He walked around a few boxes that had bloody footprints on them. As he looked down he groaned, pulling the handkerchief from his pocket and holding it over his nose and mouth. There were two bodies up there, and they were not in good shape. Damian mumbled a prayer and pulled the sawed-off shotgun from beneath his coat. Slowly he made his way back down the ladder and looked down at the ashes left by the demon who had bitten him.

  His area was clear, but he had a serious issue with his shoulder to figure out. He had never been bitten by a demon before, just scratched by the claws or wrestled to the ground.

  He groaned again, pulling himself away from the wall. He had heard gunshots in the distance, so he knew that Eric was facing his own demons. He could only hope his team came out better than he felt at that moment.

  Katie crept through the house, checking the rooms one at a time.

  There was no sign of demons in the living room or the large formal dining room, so she made her way to the kitchen. As she opened the door she gasped, finding the ravaged bodies of the staff who had been working the party.

  There was something smoking in the oven, so she ran over and turned it off. She pulled open the door and waving her hand through the smoke to clear it. She put her hands on the center island and dropped her head, sad at the loss of so many souls. However, as she stood there, she sensed a demon coming up behind her. Slowly she bent her knees and then leapt into the air, twisting her body and landing on top of the counter facing the demon.

  “It’s not nice to sneak up on people,” Katie said, pulling out her sword. “You don’t want to lose your head, now do you?”

  Can we exorcise? Katie asked Pandora.

  No, they are all too far gone, Pandora told her. Chop their fucking heads off.

  You got it, Katie replied.

  As soon as Katie turned back, she noticed this demon wasn’t alone. Four more demons gathered around slowly, circling the island. Katie tapped her sword on the marble top and stood up tall.

  “Oh, so you brought your friends too.” Katie smirked. “The more the merrier, I suppose.”

  The demons stopped in their tracks, growling and snarling at her. Pandora boosted Katie to give her strength and agility beyond what she normally possessed.

  As the demons lunged toward her she jumped into the air, swiping her sword downward and catching one of them in the back. It screamed in agony and fell backward into the dishes. Katie landed to the side of the island on the floor, and as she balanced her body to stay upright from the drop she pulled out her second sword, slashing both outward from her body and chopping the heads off two of the other demons.

  Katie shea
thed one sword and pulled her pistol out, aiming at the one she had initially injured and pulling the trigger. The beast went down hard, turning to ash before it hit the floor. She blew on the end of her pistol and turned back around, staring at the last two demons. They watched her with wide eyes.

  “Hey, boys,” she called as they turned and started to run. “Aw, where ya goin’? The fun was just getting started!”

  Katie hopped the counter and sprinted after the demons, running her ass off.

  When she caught up with them they stared at her, shocked at how fast she could move. She smiled, pulling her sword back out and swiping it at their legs. One demon fell, tripping the other and sending him flying into the wall. Katie came to a screeching halt and laughed, then walked over to the one on the floor. She raised her sword high into the air and pushed it quickly through its neck. When that one had turned to dust she looked over at the other, who was bloodied and battered from the fall.

  “Man, that looks like it hurts,” She tsked. “Here, let me make it better.”

  She pulled out her pistol and fired straight into his head, watching his body shudder before evaporating before her. She smiled as she wiped her swords off and sheathed them.

  At least this time they hadn’t all run from her.

  Korbin went over to the DEA agent as the rest of his team piled into the cars. He needed to make sure that they were on the same page with everything.

  The agent smiled at Korbin. “Good to see you again,” she said, shaking his hand.

  “You too,” he replied. “I just wanted to make sure we saw eye to eye. We can’t let anyone know we were here, since it would compromise a covert action we have undertaken in search of whoever is behind this recent rash of attacks.”

  “Yep, we’re on it,” she said. “I swear, the fucking rich…all they do is take up space and make my life more of a problem than it has to be. And heaven forbid a rich one dies, much less over a hundred. There is going to be some serious political ass-kicking. That never happens when it’s a normal Joe Shmoe.”