Protected by the Damned BoxedSet 1

by Michael Todd

  “I don’t envy you,” Korbin said, shaking her hand again.

  “Yeah, yeah,” She sighed and shooed him away. “Go on get out of here. We’ll handle it all.”

  She watched as Korbin nodded and climbed into the SUV. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that if the Killers had been there it was serious.

  Things were getting worse in Vegas, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t let up anytime soon.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The teams headed home, grateful that the incursion was over and no one really sustained much of an injury except Damian. He, however, was obviously playing off the pain he was in.

  As Eric saw to his wounds, Korbin explained exactly what he needed to do to neutralize the poison from the demon’s bite. Damian had been lucky, but Katie couldn’t help but feel like there was something else going on in his head, besides relief.

  He looked disconcerted; shaken even, and so did Eric. While Katie had been out there cutting off heads and laughing, her teammates had suffered through what had just happened—and it took her until they were on the way back for her to notice. She felt horrible for it, like she needed to say something to them.

  “You guys did an amazing job today,” Katie said, watching Eric as he tended to Damian. “Really, you went above and beyond.”

  “Yeah.” Damian scoffed. “One little demon got the best of me.”

  “I’m right there with you, man,” Eric admitted. “Only I had two. When the second demon changed back into its human form, I realized it was just a girl. Just a teenage girl. When I took this position, telling myself day and night that I wanted to be on these teams, I didn’t prepare myself for something like that.”

  “Could you ever really prepare for that?” Damian asked. “Seeing someone who was still a child, really…their whole life gone in the blink of a demon eye. It never gets easier when they are so young. I’m sorry that you had to see that. But you can talk to me about it when we get back, or our team therapist, who takes appointments at any time and knows exactly what we do.”

  “It was bound to happen eventually,” Eric replied. “I was just lucky enough to see it at the end, not in the middle of a battle. It could have gotten really hairy if I had gotten distracted like that when I was fighting a demon. It was a close enough call for me tonight.”

  Katie sat back and listened to them talk. She had started the conversation, but Damian had done a good job taking over, making Eric understand that this kind of thing was pretty normal for their lives—which was really sad.

  When they got back to the base, they unloaded their gear and headed to their rooms to get cleaned up. Everyone had blood on them, so the hot showers were a welcome relief.

  When they had all cleaned up, they met back in the main room.

  Jeremy expressed his need to crash, as did Calvin, and Korbin had wandered back to his office, as always. Damian looked at Katie, Derek, and Eric, rubbing his hands together and smirking. Katie furrowed her brow and chuckled, knowing he was up to something. She just wasn’t sure what that something was yet.

  “So, are you guys hungry?” he asked.

  Yes. Pandora scoffed. As if the question was necessary!

  Katie just nodded her head while the guys answered fervently. Apparently everyone, including Pandora, had worked up an appetite.

  “All right, cool,” Damian said. “Come on, let’s jump in the SUV. I know the perfect spot.”

  Katie shrugged and followed the guys out to the truck. She sat quietly as Derek and Eric talked about food, thinking about everything that had gone on that day. She knew Pandora was picky about food, but at that moment she really didn’t care. She just wanted to get something into her stomach.

  Damian pulled up in front of Herbs & Rye, a very popular joint off Sahara. Inside, the restaurant and bar looked like some sort of twenties pub. The walls were red-striped and something like velvet, and the place was quite narrow. They walked past the bearded bartender, who was wearing a vest and dress shirt, looking like someone from a hundred years ago.

  “This place has awesome steaks,” Damian said. “And even better than that, it’s their Happy Hour, which means their steaks are half-off right now.”

  Katie looked at the different options on the menu. Not only did they have normal-sized steaks, but they also had party steaks—slabs of meat that a normal person couldn’t possibly finish on their own, unless they were Katie with a demon metabolizing her food. She smiled, trying to block the information from Pandora, but it was impossible.

  Now that is what I’m talking about, Pandora declared. Eat like a man. Those huge steaks are right up my alley. We need to show these boys the ropes.

  I think that’s a bad idea, Katie said. A really horrible idea.

  Nonsense! They want to eat big? Well, so do we, Pandora replied.

  “Who wants to challenge me to a steak-eating contest?” Eric asked. “I am telling you right now, you don’t stand a chance against the meat-eating maestro.”

  Katie smirked, knowing he would fold in a second next to her. She could eat this place out of stock, so she knew there was no way he could keep up. She didn’t want to embarrass him.

  But damn…how could she turn down a challenge like that?

  “I’m ready to go,” She closed her menu with a laugh. “Let’s do this.”

  That’s my girl! Pandora said. Let’s show ‘em who’s boss.

  Everyone ordered the biggest steaks, and when they got there they started to chow down.

  Katie took her time, savoring every bite as she went through the motions without even breaking a sweat.

  Eric was all about it at first, laughing and smiling as he plowed through his meat. Then it hit him, and with every bite Katie could see his resolve fading.

  After Eric took his last bite he was clearly in pain from all that meat; it showed on his face. She smiled as his mouth slid around that last piece of beef, and she waited until they were dead tied before taking just one more bite than him.

  Sure, she was full, actually fuller than she normally was when she left Bootlegger, but she couldn’t have let him win.

  Everyone at the table oohed and aahed as Katie put her arms up in the air for a moment before dropping them in her lap and leaning back. She groaned and rubbed her stomach, then looked at Damian with a smile on her face.

  Damian laughed. He’d known that she was going to win, but he also knew just how far she would go to get there. She couldn’t tell if he had thought it was a good idea just to punish her, or if he wanted to see Eric miserable as well. Either way it was funny, and everyone was laughing and smiling for the first time since the earlier call.

  That was worth every single bite of steak to her.

  “God.” Eric groaned, leaning his head back. “I am going to have to take a chihuahua-shaped ten-pound shit in the morning to relieve this one.”

  “Oh, my God.” Katie winced. “That is so gross. Come on, I just ate that steak. The last thing I want to do is picture you shitting.”

  “Yeah, that isn’t pleasant.” Derek laughed. “Not pleasant at all.”

  “At least I can relax tomorrow and not move,” Eric replied.

  “And we can watch our show,” Katie added.

  “What show?” Damian asked.

  “Oh, God,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “You had to ask, didn’t you?”

  “What?” Damian looked around, waiting for an answer.

  “It’s our soap. There is riveting story lines, love, romance, action, and murder,” Katie told him enthusiastically.

  Damian laughed. “Why do I doubt that?”

  “It’s pretty good,” Eric admitted. “It’s a thing for me, and it was a thing when my crew was overseas. It kind of helped us.”

  “Really?” Damian said, shaking his head. “Derek?”

  “Hey, don’t look at me! I don’t have anything to do with this.” He laughed.

  Katie and Eric started talking about the show, filling Damian and Derek in on all t
he little backstories and what the main characters were facing. By the time they were ready to go they were all engrossed in it, and Katie found that amusing. She hoped that next time the show came on the base audience would be bigger, but probably not. It had still been worth the discussion.

  When the tab came Damian grabbed it, paying for everyone’s dinner.

  Damian smiled. “It’s the least I can do for the three of you giving me so much entertainment tonight. Especially you two, with that monster ingestion of cow flesh. You definitely made the steak companies happy tonight.”

  “My arteries are screaming,” Derek remarked. “And I didn’t even come close to these two. I have to say though, Katie, for having just eaten half a cow, you look very calm and relaxed—like it was no big thing.”

  “She is a pro at this,” Damian told him. “I had a feeling she was going to blow you two out of the water.”

  “She only won by one bite,” Eric pointed out.

  “Out of choice.” Katie laughed. “I’m already eyeing my French fries.”

  “How do you do that?” Eric said, shaking his head. “You are so thin, but you eat like a giant.”

  “It’s one of my special powers.” Katie laughed as the waitress brought back Damian’s change.

  “No, it’s yours,” he said, smiling at her. “For having to deal with these buffoons.

  The waitress looked at the hundred-dollar bill in the check folder and her eyes went wide. She thanked everyone and scampered off to the kitchen, not wanting him to change his mind. That made Katie smile, and just showed again how generous and kind Damian could be.

  Derek started working his way out of the booth. “All right, gang, let’s get out of here.”

  Everyone waddled back to the SUV and Katie laughed as she helped push Eric into the car. “Get your fat ass in there!” she huffed.

  She rolled in after him and buckled her seat belt, smiling, and relaxed. Damian drove out of the parking lot and headed back toward the base.

  Oh! Oh! Pandora yelled.

  What? Katie asked in alarm, sitting up straight.

  Donutttttsssss, Pandora said, turning Katie’s attention to the donut shop coming up in three blocks.

  Katie ignored her demon. She didn’t even want to entertain the idea, but she was struggling with how loud Pandora was getting. Pandora was relentless about shit like that.

  Pandora chanted, DoNUTS, doNUTS, doNUTS!

  “No,” Katie finally said out loud. “There is no fucking way I am eating another bite. No way in hell.”

  Damian looked in the rear-view mirror while the other two looked at Katie oddly. Katie groaned, shaking her head and rubbing her hand over her face. She felt like a crazy person sometimes, with Pandora the Ravenous in her head.

  “My demon wants donuts,” Katie explained. “Sorry.”

  Eric looked out the window at the donut shop and then at Damian. Damian did a double-take and glanced at Katie in the rearview mirror. Immediately he started to shake his head.

  “No,” he said pointedly. “I’m not allowing gluttony—or more gluttony—this evening. ERIC! KATIE!”

  Everybody burst into laughter as Damian continued shaking his head. He put the pedal to the metal and the SUV’s engine revved as they peeled around the turn, getting on the I-15 southbound and hauling ass.

  Driving quickly toward the base.

  Chapter Sixteen

  By the next morning Katie felt as good as new, an improvement on how she usually felt the day after gorging on food.

  Eric had figured he would get to recover the next day, but Korbin had other ideas when he woke everyone up at six in the morning for training.

  Katie laughed silently as she got dressed and pulled her hair back in a ponytail.

  She knew that Eric would be struggling to even walk that morning, but a workout would do him good. He always was livelier after working out, and he needed to train so that things like the day before didn’t happen to him often.

  It only took so many times of being cornered by a demon before you weren’t lucky enough to find your knife at your side. She enjoyed having fun with the guys, but not at the expense of their mission.

  Either way, she was ready to get some training in. She had stiff muscles from the battle the day before.

  That wasn’t something she normally felt, though to be fair she rarely jumped on countertops, spun in circles, or raced demons, so a little stiffness was to be expected.

  She just hoped that getting back into training would help her improve her skills and become better at utilizing the boosts Pandora had been giving her.

  She wanted to be faster, tougher, smarter, and deadlier than the demons, and especially ones like T’Chezz. She hadn’t forgotten about him.

  She knew he was out there somewhere plotting and planning his next move, but she wasn’t just going to sit by idly and wait for him to attack. She was going to prepare.

  When she was dressed and ready she headed out to the main area, grabbed a muffin, ate it really fast, and went down to start the day. When she walked through the door, she laughed loudly. Eric was dragging himself through the arena, holding his stomach. He looked at her and groaned, his eyes slightly glazed.

  She laughed. “Good thing we didn’t get donuts!”

  “God, I don’t even want to think about it,” Eric moaned. “I’m gonna go work on weapons and try not to puke.”

  “Good luck, buddy.” Katie shook her head and patted him on the shoulder.

  Katie looked around the room, trying to decide where she wanted to start. She had been running through quarterstaff moves in her head for days to get better at it.

  She was the kind of girl who didn’t give up when she struggled with something. In fact, she was the kind of girl who would just push harder to accomplish her goals.

  So long as she didn’t have to get up too early. Or at least, earlier. This version of her walked over and grabbed the pole she had made from the dowel and carried it out to an empty area in the arena.

  She closed her eyes and breathed heavily in and out, balancing herself, clearing her mind, and getting ready to repeat her practices over and over.

  When she opened her eyes she bent her knees, thrusting her right leg out to stabilize her body. She had learned the first time that if she wasn’t stable it didn’t matter what moves she learned; she would end up on the floor in two seconds flat. She held the stick in both hands and went through a sequence of movements, swiping it through the air with care and patience. As she turned to complete the sequence, her foot twisted and she stumbled to one knee. She growled, angry that she was struggling so hard with the moves.

  Relax, Pandora said. This art is all in your head. You have to visualize each movement before you move into it. You have to see the power and strength it takes. These moves are just the basics, but they will give you the ability to fight someone else and deflect their actions. You cannot move on until you can complete this sequence over and over without thinking about what comes next.

  Katie nodded and stood back up, starting from scratch. She repeated the motions over and over, closing her eyes and letting her body move through them. She could feel the connection with the staff growing stronger as she pivoted, dipped, and swiped it through the air. When she had finished her third walkthrough of the motions, she stood up straight and bowed before opening her eyes.

  Wow! Katie exclaimed. You were right, it is all in my head. How did you know all that? I mean, you don’t really seem like the kind of demon who just hung around learning ancient fighting techniques.

  Not everyone I possessed was a business student. She laughed. Hell, I was lucky to get someone who could read. Usually the smart ones weren’t too keen on a ride-along unless it meant they were attempting to take over the world. But for stuff like that, long ago I walked freely among you humans, and I met a man who was proficient in the art. It wasn’t ancient then, of course, but I watched and learned almost every day for nearly thirty years.

  Wow, you met
a man and stayed with him for thirty years? Katie asked, impressed.

  She laughed. I’m not always about booty.

  What happened to him? Katie asked.

  He went off to war and never returned, she told Katie.

  Katie could detect a hint of sadness in her voice, and wondered if the big bad demon inside of her had actually loved someone—a human, no less. She wanted to ask, but she knew Pandora would just brush it off to protect her ego. Still, the thought of demons loving was a new concept to Katie. She wasn’t sure if it were even possible.

  I’m sorry, Katie told her.

  Meh. She cleared her throat. It’s a hazard of being human, I guess. You guys are so damn fragile.

  Katie nodded. We are.

  Pandora went on with the lesson. Okay, now this is what I want you to do.

  She launched into it, talking about how to hold the staff, the intention of the motions, and where Katie could take the craft once she had the basics down.

  The entire time she talked Katie closed her eyes, focusing on Pandora’s voice and moving through the motions over and over until they became so fluid she didn’t know where her arm ended and the staff began. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there practicing, but when she opened her eyes Korbin and Damian were standing across the room watching her move. Korbin was rubbing his chin.

  Hopefully they hadn’t caught on to what was going on in her head.

  Eric pulled himself up from the weight bench and sat there, wiping the sweat off his brow. Katie walked over and put up her staff, then smiled at him.

  He shook his head and stretched his arms up, looking less pale than earlier. “I feel a little better. Nothing to write home about, but better.”

  “Good,” Katie said brightly. “So let’s spar.”

  “Ugh. All right, but the stomach is off limits unless you want to see that steak again,” he warned her