A Snake in the Grass

by K. A. Stewart

  First it shook its head no, then nodded vigorously, then shrugged its spare little shoulders. “Benefit is not hurting. Don’t like to be hurting.”

  Another inch of shadow, another smidgen closer to me. Don’t think I wasn’t watching the little rodent. “Who is it? Who is your master?”

  The thing shook its head furiously to the negative. “No name! Soul-bearer’s name is not worth that name.”

  “Well you have to give me something, or our deal is off. Is it a man?”

  “Nope. No male apeling.”

  “A woman then.”

  “No!” The thing chortled gleefully. “Nope nope, no female apeling either.”

  I gritted my teeth and took a couple of breaths for patience. “Then what is it?”

  “The first. One of the very first. Older than old, older than apes, than rats and rocks and trees…”

  Lovely. “A demon, then. A very old, very powerful demon.”

  “Older than demons, older than oldest. The first.”

  The cold chill down my back had nothing to do with the fading sunlight. The souls in my skin stirred, twisting in unease. “What is it using the blood magic for?” I’d never heard of a demon using anything but souls.

  “No!” The rat actually stamped his little clawed foot at me in anger. “No! Gave you the wants! Now give me the name! The soul-bearer’s name!”

  I sighed and stood up, stretching the aches out of my legs. “You did. You did what I asked, so our deal is held. My name is Dawson.”

  The moon eyes fluttered closed with an expression of ecstasy. “Dawwwwwwson. It is a good name.”

  “I’ve always liked it.” Time to go. I had no clue what to do with the information I’d received, but maybe Carlotta or Terrence would have an idea. “See ya later, scrawny. Maybe think about getting yourself a new boss. Your current one seems to be treating you shitty. Check into a union or something.”

  I turned to go, only to have the little critter dart around in front of me again, clawed hands held out imploringly. “No! No leaving! Stay….talk… Could say more, for another name maybe perhaps.”

  “Not a chance. One is all you get. See ya.” I tried to walk around it again, and again he skirted the edge of the shadows to get between me and the trees.

  “Something else, then? What’s trade, hm? I know things. Things Dawson wants.”

  “I doubt that. You don’t seem strong enough to have any good secrets.” Oh yeah, I was playing the little guy now, and I should probably feel really bad about taking advantage of a weaker being. But hello…demon? “What could you possibly know?”

  As I’d hoped, the bat ears quivered in outrage. “I know much! I am small, yes, but forgets I am there. Says things. Big game things! Things Dawson needs to know.”

  I crouched down again. “Dazzle me, but you’ve only got fifteen minutes to come up with something. Once the sun gets below the trees, we’re done.”

  The thing hopped back and forth on its two clawed feet for a moment, thinking, then snapped its fingers. “Know where the weapons are! Armor and blade, stained with blood.”

  As much as I’d love to get those back for the kid, it wasn’t vital enough to trade for. “We can replace those. Try again.”

  The little demon frowned, ears wilting in concentration. “Know…know how he did it, the angry one. Blood in the salt, monster climbs through. Rawr.” It mimed gnashing jaws with its clawed hands.

  “Dude, I’m so the last person who needs or wants magic lessons. No trade. And you’re running out of time.”

  It hissed at me this time, the moon eyes flaring red. “Stay! Know more secrets! Dawson cannot leave!”

  “Why are you so keen on me staying here?” The creature flinched at that, ducking its head like it was about to be hit. “Are you stalling me?”

  A slow smile crossed its face, and it nodded its head, the ears flopping a little. “Yes, there’s the secret. Voices heard, plans made… That’s what Dawson will trade for.”

  “What plans? Whose voices?”

  “The youngling’s voice…you know the voice.” The next thing that came out of its throat was not its own raspy sibilant demon speech, but a pair of voices I knew all too well.

  “Where are you? Are you in a safe place?” Estéban.

  “Yes, I’m safe, but they’re coming for me.” Paulito. “I’m almost to the ruins, but I don’t think I’ll make it to the house.”

  “No, stay there, I’ll come get you.” It was eerie, hearing the kid’s voice come out of that fanged mouth, but demons were nothing if not perfect mimics. It was also dizzying, listening to the thing switch back and forth between the two voices with ease.

  There was a tremble to the voice that belonged to Paulito. “Why would you do that? After what I’ve done?”

  “Because you are family, that’s why.”

  “Estéban… I… I’m scared.”

  “Just stay there, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The thing even mimicked click of the phone hanging up, and then a dial tone.

  “When did this happen?” It could be false, I knew that. Something invented, just to tempt me into giving something up. But I had to say, in all the years I’d been dealing with them, I’d never once seen a demon lie. The knot in my gut said it was all too real.

  “Moments ago. Days ago. Hard to say.” Once again using its own voice, the thing shrugged its shoulders with a sly grin. “Worth a trade? Another name?”

  “No. But this is.” I took a moment to carefully frame my words. This was gonna be a doozy. “The cousin’s a douche and the kid’s walking into a trap. I know that much. They’re going to the ruins, where there’s old magic and someone’s been messing around already. I know that too. But you tell me now, and you tell me true. Is your master, the first, going to try to sacrifice Estéban for something? To get his blood to power some kind of magic?”

  It made sense. The fight club, and probably Paulito’s blood alone, was no longer enough to power whatever they were trying to do up at those ruins. The chicken death hadn’t been big enough, either. Terrence had said that the next step was a human death.

  The scrappy little demon gave me a slow grin. “Yesssss. Now a name. Pay your debt.”

  “It’s James!” I shouted it back over my shoulder, because I was already running.

  The tree branches whipped against my face as I pelted through the forest, and I had a vague thought that I sure hoped I was running in the right direction when I blasted through the Perez wards without even realizing I’d reached them.

  People paused in their tasks as I raced through the compound, outright hurtling one garden fence when it sprang up in my way unexpectedly, and the kitchen door slammed open hard enough to bounce when I hit it at full speed. “Kid! You here?”

  “Señor Jesse! You come!” One of the kid-pack appeared, grabbing at my wrist and yanking. “Come now, Señorita is hurt!”

  I let myself get dragged down the hallway to Carlotta’s room, where Sveta sat slumped at the end of the bed, a bloody towel pressed to the back of her head as Carlotta examined the wound. The boys, clustered around her attentively, all parted like the Red Sea so I could get close. “What happened?”

  Sveta spat something at me in Ukrainian, then winced and wobbled where she sat.

  It was Carlotta who supplied the answer. “He is gone. Mi hijo, he hit her, and took the truck and left.” She pressed an icepack against the back of Sveta’s head. “Why would he do this? What is happening?”

  “Did he get a phone call, right before this happened?” Both women gave me blank looks, but one of the little ones nodded.

  “Sí! He went in the other room, so I do not know who it was.”

  “I know who it was,” I muttered. “And I know where he’s going.”

  “I will come with you.” Sveta tried to stand, only to sink back down onto the bed, her face pale.

  “You’re gonna sit right there, and Carlotta’s going to watch you for a concussion. I’ll get him.” I fixed my
gaze sternly on the pack of boys. “You do everything your mother tells you, and if Señor Smythe gets back, you tell him to get ready to take on casualties and repel boarders. You use those exact words, entienden?” The kids might not understand what I was saying, but the old man would. I got a round of solemn nods in return.

  “Bring him home, Jesse. Por favor.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  I turned to leave when Sveta’s hand shot out, grabbing my arm in a grip like steel. When I looked back to her, her ice blue eyes were grim. “He took The Way.”

  Well shit. Nodding my thanks, I bolted out of the house again.

  Terrence had one pickup truck, and Estéban had taken the other, so that left me the donkey, which was not really going to happen, or Miguel’s bike. It had been probably fifteen years or more since I’d last ridden a motorcycle, but as the engine sputtered to life, I figured it was like riding a bicycle. The body doesn’t forget. “Man, I hope you guys knew what you were doing with this thing.”

  I admit, I drove at speeds that were unsafe for road conditions, and it was only a miracle I didn’t lay that thing over and get turned into street pizza. I didn’t know how much of a headstart the kid had on me, but I had to make up time. The sun was setting, if nothing else. And whatever “the first” was, I did not want to confront it in the dark.

  I would have missed the turn off toward the ruins if the grasses hadn’t been mashed flat by something recently driving over them. The kid was there already. I planted my foot on the road to make the corner, the bike’s back tire throwing up a spray of gravel in all directions.

  The overgrown trail was rough, and I nearly bounced myself over the handlebars a couple of times, trying to muscle my way through. Only when I saw the truck ahead of me did I abandon the bike, tossing it carelessly on its side in the bushes.

  The hood of the pickup was warm, and the engine ticked softly as it cooled. I couldn’t be too far behind him.

  The path seemed even more tangled than the first time we were there, almost like the vines and bushes and closed in behind Estéban as he passed. I knew I sounded like a herd of drunk water buffalo, coming through the brush, but I didn’t really have time for stealth. And with two hundred and seventy-five souls riled up and beaming, it wasn’t like I could hide from anything magical anyway.

  The souls were on fire. Had been since I tore out of the little clearing, leaving the sly little demon behind. Whether my passengers truly understood what was happening, or were just reacting to my emotional state, I couldn’t say. Regardless, whatever cloaking powers Axel’s spell had given me, they were pretty moot now. Even I could tell that much.

  The foliage gave way abruptly to the wide meadow, the surface of the tall grass swaying in the twilight breeze. I stumbled to a halt, trying to quiet my breathing so that I could hear. To my left, there was a path through the grass, and on examination, the stalks had been sliced neatly through. He had seriously used my sword as a weed whacker. I was so going to kick his ass.

  I heard the voices first, and once I had a direction, it was easy to see the three dark heads sticking up over the weeds, halfway across the clearing. They’d gone further in than we had before, had to be standing almost dead center in the midst of all the fallen stones.

  The shortest one, the one that I hadn’t expected, was Reina, standing just behind Paulito. There was a strange excitement in her dark eyes as they flicked between the two men. Just what the hell was she doing here? The tattoos on my skin writhed and burned white hot, and I had a sick feeling that I wasn’t going to like that answer when I got it.

  Paulito must have been standing on one of the rocks, head and shoulders taller than his younger cousin. Even at that distance, I could see the sneer on his face. They were speaking Spanish to each other, and while I couldn’t follow it all, the mocking was obvious. He was taunting the kid, no doubt for falling for such an obvious trap. He gestured with one hand, and I realized he had the machete with him, flailing it around like a magic wand.

  In the wide open clearing, it wasn’t like I was going to approach unnoticed, so I didn’t even try. I took the trail Estéban had cut, noting where he’d skirted a few of the aging stones. Wouldn’t do to go tripping over one of those and splatting on my face in the midst of the fast escape I was sure we were going to have to make.

  I came up behind the kid, making enough noise that he’d know I was there, but stopped about ten yards away. The kid’s head twitched slightly in my direction, acknowledging me, but he kept his eyes on Paulito. Reina’s gaze, though, it found me, and a pleased smile curved her very pretty lips.

  “Having that blade doesn’t make you a champion, Paulito.”

  The switch to English was for my benefit, and Paulito’s eyes flicked to me and back to his cousin with a smirk. “Just because your papa was champion doesn’t mean that you are one either. You’re just a boy, and you have no idea what kind of power I have at my disposal.”

  “I know you’re using blood magic, black magic. It will kill you, sooner rather than later, and your soul will be damned with it. I don’t know what she’s told you,” His gaze darted to Reina and back quickly, “but she has lied to you.” The kid still had my sword, I realized, pointed down but held in a position he could easily fight from if necessary. “Just come home. Mama will forgive you, we can talk. You can still walk away from all of this.”

  Paulito threw back his head and laughed. “Reina doesn’t lie. Reina doesn’t need to. What makes you think I want to walk away from this? This will get me everything I ever wanted.”

  “It won’t.” Estéban shook his head, and I could see his shoulders droop for just a second before he squared himself again. “I am taking you home. You get to choose what condition you’re in.”

  “Is that a threat, primo?” Paulito hopped down off his perch with a dark chuckle. “You really going to use a sword on me? Tu familia?”

  “Si tengo que.” Estéban brought The Way up, settling into a ready stance just like I’d taught him. “Jesse. Whatever happens, stay out of it. This is family business.”

  Dammit, kid. Not that I really knew what I was going to do anyway. I was unarmed, without even my boot knife, and my sword…well, it was being borrowed. Even at my very best, going up bare-handed against a crazy dude with a machete was probably not going to work out very well for me in the end. All I could do was stand back and watch. The Way wasn’t Estéban’s weapon, it wasn’t even one he’d practiced with extensively, and I could only hope I’d taught him enough to get him by.

  As Paulito advanced on his cousin, Reina moved too, so I mirrored her, circling the pair until we formed the four points of a square. There was a stone directly behind me, and two small ones the size of softballs to my right. The small ones still had enough magic in them to cause my souls to lean that direction, making me feel off balance. Across the grass, my eyes met Reina’s, and she gave me a small grin.

  It was Paulito who broke first, and I felt a glimmer of pride for my student as he stood his ground while his cousin charged at him, bellowing with rage. The machete came down, a clumsy overhand strike, and Estéban calmly stepped out of the way, deflecting the blow and sending Paulito stumbling off-balance into the weeds. The kid came back to center, simply waiting.

  The older man whirled, charging again, and again the kid parried, using his cousin’s momentum against him. With Paulito’s back to him, Esteban had the perfect opportunity to strike, to end this, but again he waited, simply bring the sword back up into a ready stance.

  “Puta! Cobarde!” Paulito spit at him. “Pelea, cabrón!”

  “No.”

  Paulito came at him again, and this time the blades clashed in earnest, the longer katana keeping the shorter machete at bay. The kid’s form was shit, his balance too far forward on the balls of his feet, but he still had more training than his cousin and it showed. The pair of them trampled an ever-growing ring in the tall grass as Paulito tried frantically to get inside the kid’s guard, trying an
ything to reach him. For his part, Estéban kept mostly to defensive maneuvers, and after his second counterstrike where Paulito came away with stinging knuckles and nothing more, I realized he was using the flat of the blade instead of the sharpened edge.

  “Kid, we don’t have time to play! The sun’s going down!” It was something I felt more than saw, the green glow of the spellstones brightening with each passing moment. We were maybe fifteen, twenty minutes away from serious darkness. Whatever “the first” was, the middle of a dark, spell-trapped hole in the woods was not where I wanted to meet it for the first time.

  “Come on, kid!” Paulito’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. “Run home to mama before dark, because the monsters will get you.”

  They came together again, and the sound of clashing metal and grunts of exertion filled the clearing. Paulito was pushing harder, realizing that his cousin wasn’t about to hurt him, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he closed on the kid and forced some kind of end to it. I seriously feared that when it came down to it, the morals I’d instilled in the kid were going to get him killed.

  Almost as soon as I’d thought it, there was a surge in the fight, and somehow the two cousins wound up in a close clench, the two blades pinned between their wielders as they stared at each other from inches apart.

  Paulito grinned, a filthy, dark expression. “You cannot defeat me, primo. You will have to kill me, or I will gut you and leave your body here for the animals. And then I will cut the head off of every brat your mother spawned, and end with her.”

  Wow. That was some world-class super-villain-level hatred there. I saw the moment the words registered with Estéban, saw the switch flick behind his dark eyes. Don’t kid, don’t do it. But I knew better. Of all the buttons for Paulito to push, that had been the one. Whatever training I’d managed to instill in the kid, that was about to go right out the window.

  With a roar that surprised even me, Estéban gave a heave, shoving Paulito back with a force that sent the older man staggering. And instead of waiting, the kid followed with a flurry of blows that Paulito blocked only through blind luck. There was no finesse, no style, only rage behind those strikes, and if any single one of them landed, they were going to remove body parts.