And speaking of admiration, we were all still shocked and amazed by the actions of Ken Hamilton and his accomplices, walking straight through the gates of hell in pursuit of Dementia, looking for two of the seven artefacts.
Which left five on earth.
Cheyne, the witch queen, turned away from her huddled brethren, creased up face betraying the deep-seated dread in her soul.
“The closest hierarchy demon, we think it’s probably Asmodeus, has been spotted in Orlando. We should head there immediately.”
“You think he’s already located an artefact?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Logan. But considering his close proximity, we shouldn’t waste time.”
“You’ve found a way to track them?” Cleaver, the big American with the duster and concealed shotgun, asked innocently.
“Yeah.” Cheyne gave him a wilting glance. “It’s called Fox News.”
Giles, our leader and the head of Aegis, immediately ran ahead, with Lysette Cohen and Cleaver, looking to commandeer vehicles. Since Miami was deserted, I didn’t think they’d have any problems.
I turned to Lucy. “Hey, Luce. You okay?”
Her eyes were slightly glazed. “One minute I’m a child who can’t stop thinking about her mum, the next I’m a superhero. I do feel a little woozy.”
I draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Me too.”
“Do you think . . . Mum would be proud?”
I sighed on the inside. The ghost of the woman that had run out on her husband and daughter without warning or explanation would forever haunt us both.
“Of course,” I said with as little inflection as possible.
At that moment, Belinda came over. “Hey, honeycake, after that battle I feel like I need the mother of all showers. Wanna join me?”
I coughed and rolled my eyes toward Lucy. “Not in front of the rugrat, eh?”
“Oh Dad.” Lucy grumbled. “I’m sixteen. Not six.”
That wasn’t exactly the problem I’d envisioned with my daughter. It had more to do with Raychel, her mother. “I think we’re headed out.” I nodded toward Cheyne. “Shower will have to wait.”
Belinda pouted in exasperation. “Figures.”
I placed my other arm around her shoulders. “And hey. You survived.”
My gentle words made her smile. Belinda’s greatest worry in life was that she would die young and leave behind those that cared about her. She’d previously told me that she would rather be alone than cause anyone that kind of pain.
“To fight another day,” she said, not without a sense of irony.
I stopped walking as we came to Ocean Boulevard, and gazed at the row of restaurants, hotels and shops. Miami was famous for this elite string of high-end establishments. But now, much of the remarkable façade was pitted, damaged by the beach battle and the evil that had tried to destroy our world. Walls were marred and ravaged, windows were shattered. Palm trees had been razed in great, bedraggled chains. But I smiled. Repairing this was what would help bring us together. The human spirit would emerge undaunted, unsullied, and bond together to build an even greater spectacle. This was one of the major reasons why we fought and why we won.
An enormous vehicle, painted black, roared up to the curb. A people carrier, it looked like it could hold an army. The doors whooshed open automatically and we headed for the best seats. Then Lucy stopped.
“Hey, Dad, is it okay if I ride in the second car?”
I looked over as another vehicle arrived, this one slightly smaller and painted dark green, and driven by Marian Cleaver. At first, I failed to see why Lucy wanted to be separated, but then I saw a large and problematic reason.
Ceriden.
The camp vampire, who I thought might be quietly courting my daughter into some secret world involving blood-sharing slavery and bonds, sat at the rear of the second car. I liked Ceriden, he was a breath of fresh air in the somewhat boring and serious vampire world. My initial thought was lifeless vampire world, but I decided not to go there. The man genuinely cared for the welfare of the human race and had proven himself to be a thoughtful, likeable guy, but . . .
Maybe all fathers harbored suspicions where their daughters were involved. Something you just didn’t trust about any bastard that started hanging around her.
I made myself smile. “Sure. Just . . . be careful. All right?”
Lucy grimaced. “After what we’ve just done, I think I’ll survive.”
She walked away. I watched her go. Belinda pulled at me.
“C’mon, Dad. She’ll be fine. You gotta give her space.”
Space, I didn’t mind. Space that included the influence of a so-called Uber being, I was understandably wary of.
Nevertheless, I swallowed my reservations and climbed into the enormous vehicle. Giles was behind the wheel, staring over his shoulder at us as if a simple glare could make us pick up the pace. Cheyne climbed in beside him, then Johnny and Natalie Trevochet joined us along with Tanya Jordan. We all looked worn and disheveled, battle weary. Maybe the long drive to Orlando would give us a chance to recharge.
“Bet you’re thinking ‘bout that shower now ain’t ya?” Belinda nudged me in the ribs.
I tried not to smile. “Haven’t stopped since you mentioned it.”
“Thought so.”
Giles pulled away from the curb, fiddling with the satnav. I wondered for a second where the rest of Cheyne’s coven had vanished to, then stopped wondering. They had their own ways. Probably best not to dig too deep. I settled back into my seat.
“Gonna be a long drive,” Natalie Trevochet said. I was glad that the couple appeared to have forgiven me for leaving Natalie’s fate in the hands of the gods a few weeks ago. I still beat myself up over that decision. And now that my power had surfaced, been used and now suppressed again I wondered if it would reappear on command. I mean, it had taken long enough for it to start working. Always the pessimist in regard to myself, I suddenly felt glum. A quick glance back showed the second car following about a block behind.
Tanya Jordan, seated beside Belinda, was talking to Giles and Cheyne. “You guys hear anything from Kinkade yet?”
“I’m sure our gargoyle friend will be in touch once he’s made a decision,” Giles said.
“Sure,” Tanya said. “But he could still be useful, yeah? He could help us track down these five hierarchy demons is all I was thinkin’.”
Cheyne seemed to be choosing her words with care when she answered. “Kinkade is kind of . . . flighty. He’s very much ‘handle with care’.”
“You guys want me to talk to him? Back in Hawaii I worked the streets for a lot of local charities. Could talk a donation out of a tramp if I had to.”
“Maybe,” Cheyne said. “I’ll let you know.”
Tanya continued to talk. I tuned her out and closed my eyes. It had been one hell of a night, and a crazy few weeks. The world was in turmoil. How normal people reacted to the existence of Ubers, let alone all the new developments, had yet to be seen. The gates of hell still stood open back there, vacant for now, but who knew what manner of beast might soon emerge?
I was glad that Giles drove like a speed-obsessed demon.
*
What woke me I’ll never know, but my eyes snapped open and I felt a moment of disorientation. The swaying car brought everything flooding back, not to mention Belinda’s hand resting casually on my knee and the quiet conversation of Giles and Cheyne.
A pale dawn was already lighting the eastern horizon. It occurred to me that Lucy was traveling in the car behind us, sitting alongside a vampire.
“Guys,” I said. “Has it occurred to anyone that Ceriden might . . . you know . . . combust?”
Belinda gave me a sardonic raise of the eyebrows. “Wow, shake n’ bake, you’d think a four-hundred-year-old vamp king woulda thought of that. Want me to call him?”
I felt a rush of embarrassment. “No. Not really.”
Cheyne turned half around to face me
. “It’s not like they have to go underground or return to a coffin these days. A thick cloak will do. Our world is no longer full of the pure magic it once was.”
“Yeah,” Johnny put in. “Definitely a whole lot more sin out there these days.”
I thought back through history. I wasn’t so sure. “Surely it’s always been a bit of a balancing act.”
“True,” Cheyne acknowledged. “The main problem is that the forces of good are on the wane. Ancient vampires—all gone. Ancient elves—all gone. Same with the lycans. And other species—long since gone. In contrast, the bringers of evil are spreading, infesting and enjoying our world.”
I spread my hands. “You can’t bring back the dead. Can you?”
“Oh, the Old Ones are not dead.” Cheyne sighed. “They still exist. But they have no interest in the world any more. It’s been said for humans and Ubers that the older you get the less you recognize the world. And it’s true. Everything evolves around you. The world you know, and love, is soon gone, replaced by an abnormal version of itself. But that’s the world your children know and love. And so on. The Ubers—they grew tired with the changes, the steady progress, and sought simpler pastures where nothing ever changes. They dwell there now, unaffected by innovation.”
“Where are they?” Natalie Trevochet asked.
“Sounds like it could be York,” I put in under a cough.
Cheyne turned away. “Nobody knows where the Old Ones dwell,” she said. “And we never will. They do not wish to be found.”
“Even if the world they inhabit is overrun by evil?” I asked.
Cheyne threw up her hands. “I don’t know! They cannot be found—”
A distant rumble stopped her in mid-yell. We were cruising up the I-4, somewhere near Celebration. The big interstate was busy but not unduly so. Long stretches of empty road existed where Giles could put his foot down. Orlando wasn’t too far ahead. Another rumble made me tilt my head.
“What the hell is that?”
I found out about fifteen seconds later. It was running down the median, something bigger than a T-Rex and even more ferocious looking. Every primeval nerve in my body stood on edge. Pure terror lit me up. The thing pounded down the interstate like a carnivorous mountain. Every time it passed a vehicle it swiped at it with its massive, fang-filled mouth, sometimes striking and sending that vehicle tumbling, at other times missing and roaring so loud the entire car shook all around us. Once it even managed to get its entire jaw around a smaller car and lift it up into the air. Teeth gnashed and saliva flew in ribbons. The car shuddered in the thing’s jaws, metal crunching, and was then thrown to the opposite carriageway with a disdainful swing where it bounced until it came to a hard stop against the far guardrail.
“Drive!” I screamed at Giles. “Faster!”
My eyes were fixed on the car behind us where I thought I could see Lucy with her face pressed up against a window. My heart began to pound even harder. The T-Rex from hell was coming up fast, hammering along the asphalt with two enormous, clawed feet leaving craters the size of golf carts in its wake, and bellowing in supreme anger.
The vast jaws swung over toward the other carriageway. I felt an instant of guilty relief, but then the jaws quickly shifted back, snapping at the air as it sought more prey.
“Do we have time to hit it?” I heard Johnny say, referencing our powers, but I had so much more on my mind by that point. The immense jaws had battered Lucy’s vehicle, teeth gnashing and grating across metal, the tongue covering the vehicle’s windshield like a slimy red ribbon. I saw a fang penetrate the roof, smashing down like a knife through plastic. I saw the entire vehicle shuddering in the grip of a primordial power.
In one terrifying display of brutal intent and strength the T-Rex tore away the vehicle’s roof and part of the front door. Metal squealed and rasped. The driver—Marian Cleaver—swung the wheel hard in the opposite direction, severing any last ties to the beast. Cleaver was exposed, sitting beside only half a door, but kept his cool with style and efficiency, guiding the car away. The T-Rex then had a choice: Continue its rampant, destructive dash or veer off toward the escaping car. It chose to continue, flinging the roof high in the air with a disdainful toss of its head. Giles veered in the same direction as Cleaver as the beast drew level with us.
I heard its terrible breathing, its nightmare snorting. I heard the whistling of wind passing between its racks of extended fangs. I saw the blood-red gleam of horrible malevolence in its slitted eyes. Then, unadulterated viciousness swiped at us as it stomped along at our pace, reveling in its unspeakable power. The great head swung like a wrecking ball, a ball lined with deadly teeth that grew even bigger as they drew closer, dripping with saliva and blood and other fluids. Slime splashed the car window. The teeth clacked together less than an inch from the car’s door frame, the snap of jaws sending bolts of terror down my spine. Air snorted from the enormous nostrils. The callous eye blinked once. A roar blasted forth, forceful enough to send the car swaying off course. That sway was what saved us, for as the beast struck again, our vehicle was already beyond its reach; and it didn’t want to slow down or veer off course. It looked like it was having too much terrible fun right where it was.
Giles slowed and came to a stop. Quickly, we all jumped out. Lucy was being shepherded by a fully-cloaked Ceriden. Immediately, my hackles rose, and I ran to her.
“Are you okay?”
My daughter held out her hand, eyes glistening and wide. I enfolded her in my arms. All around us cars and trucks either crawled by or stopped right behind us, giving the creature chance to move ahead. Shocked expressions of disbelief marred every face. I heard car radios blurting out the news. But how could anyone make themselves unsee what we just saw?
“Did the dinosaurs come to life, Mommy?” I heard a child ask. I remembered there was a themed dinosaur world around these parts. No doubt existed in my mind that a simple ‘yes’ would be far better than the truth.
Giles was consulting with Cheyne and a map of the area. “Asmodeus was spotted here,” he said, pointing to what looked like International Drive. “And here.” He jabbed at a place called Silver Springs. “I think if we set up a base along I-Drive we’ll have everything we need.”
It made sense. Lodging, food and access to the big interstate was just seconds away. I really wasn’t sure what to expect until we arrived, but as we drew closer, I soon realized that the opening of the gates of hell or a skirmish with a being from before time was not going to spoil people’s enjoyment of the world’s greatest entertainment venue. The roads that led to Disneyland were busy, that part of I-4 that ran past Disney and I-Drive was pretty much bumper to bumper. Clearly, the T-Rex hadn’t gotten this far. Maybe it’d stopped off at the Magic Kingdom.
Giles hit the off-ramp at Sand Lake Road, and I wondered about the endurance of the human spirit—was it stalwart and strong, or just plain stupid? Of course, many families switched off completely on vacation and maybe hadn’t heard the recent news, but in these days of Android phones and tablets I somehow doubted it. Maybe they were just putting on a brave face—treating all this as a terrorist scenario.
As we passed the enormous Mickey D’s at the junction of Sand Lake and I-Drive, I saw first-hand that I was thinking on the right lines. Parents were walking their kids across the busy parking lot, driving into and around the drive-thru, holding the side doors open for each other and sitting in their cars with the air-con up high and their dashboards littered with ripped open Happy Meal boxes and drinks holders. Further up, a Popeye’s was bustling and, as we turned the corner, I saw an IHOP and then a Denny’s all doing brisk business. The sidewalks were crowded, the flashy billboards advertised all the newest rides and attractions. Surely the authorities couldn’t let this continue? Asmodeus was already here, for God’s sake. I voiced my concerns to Cheyne and Giles.
“What can they do? Declare a national emergency? They don’t have the manpower to back it all up. And think of the panic it would caus
e, the tailbacks. Even riots, looting and more murders. Sooner or later the psychos out there would understand they can blame every killing on a fiend from hell. It’s gonna get ugly, folks. And the sooner we can end it the better off we’re all going to be.”
“And there’s no contingency plan,” Giles added. “How could there be? Everyone who knows is busy fighting on the front lines. No one has time to stop and start bickering with a bunch of politicians.”
“We have to save the world in the next few days,” Cheyne said. “Or lose it forever. These hierarchy demons won’t mess around. They’ll be searching for those artefacts every minute, every second, and then they’ll come together for a last ceremony. After that you may as well head up into the hills and end it quietly.” The witch made a gun with her right hand and pointed it at her head. “Lights out. It’d be the easiest way.”
Giles pulled off the main route, spying a large hotel to the right. “Enclave,” he read out. “Looks big enough. Off the main road. Plenty of flat land around to keep a watch. Shall we see what Aegis can do?”
Whilst Giles and Cleaver headed into the lobby and bartered for rooms, we exited the cars and stretched our legs. Cheyne wandered off to make a private call. The weather was cooler than I’d imagined, a chill breeze made goose pimples stand out on my bare arms. I nodded to Lysette and Jade, the elf, whom I hadn’t really seen since Miami Beach, then once again extracted Lucy from Ceriden’s shadow.
“I’d be careful,” I said to the rather camp vamp. “Don’t want that cloak to fall off.”
“I’m positively certain it won’t,” Ceriden said. “Its human hide. Shapes and clings perfectly to the shoulders, love.”
I blinked, sure that he was joking but not sure enough to venture a rejoinder. We stood in silence for a while, the ten of us, and then Cheyne returned, her perfectly crooked nose practically twitching.
“Interesting news,” she said. “My coven traveled here separately . . .”
I felt Lucy’s tug on my arm and looked down to see the twinkle of laughter in her eyes and, through some kind of father-daughter psychic link, knew exactly what she was thinking—by broomstick?—but we kept our mutual witticisms to ourselves.
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