The Demon Hunt

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The Demon Hunt Page 4

by Kris Greene


  “Indeed I do,” she said honestly. “The difference between me and the rest of these jokers is that they’re too chickenshit to just come out and say what’s on their minds. I don’t have those kinds of hang-ups. Wild magic, like what’s running through you right now, is dangerous. It’s gonna either cook you or cook us. Either way it isn’t gonna end good if you don’t show it who’s boss, Gabriel.” She leaned in close enough for him to feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek. From the slack look on his face he was unaware of the bit of magic she’d laced her words with. “I know some people, elders in the coven, who may be able to help you learn the control you’re gonna need to carry that power around for the rest of your life.”

  “By making him a pawn of the Black King?” Rogue startled both of them. “Asha, we all know that every power monger close enough to have felt the Nimrod awaken is trying to figure out how to control it, including your king. I’m no big fan of Titus, but Dutch is running in a close second on my shit list. At least with the demons we know what to expect if they take control of the relic, but I’d hate to think what kind of trouble somebody as power hungry as Dutch would do with it.”

  “You don’t know shit about Dutch, so watch your mouth,” Asha snapped.

  “I know more about your king than you do, little Blood witch. Dutch doesn’t care about anything but power and gaining more of it. To him everybody is a pawn, including you.”

  Asha’s jaw tightened and Azuma bared his fangs at the mage. “You’re wrong. Dutch took me in when everyone treated me like a leper.”

  “Yes, because you were powerful and vulnerable and he knew that he could take advantage of that. It’s all shits and giggles now, but outlive your usefulness and see how far down the food chain you slide,” Rogue warned. “Asha, I’m not gonna bother arguing with you about Dutch because there are more important things at stake here. We’re going to help Gabriel, not turn him over to the greediest ruler. If you wanna help, that’s fine. But if not I’ll gladly kick that pretty ass of yours out at the next red light.”

  Magic flared in Asha’s eyes. “Are you threatening me?”

  “Not at all, love. I’m predicting the future.” Rogue patted his guns and slid back into his seat.

  “Let’s cool it on the drama, kids. We’re approaching the perimeter and any magical flare-ups will set off the security system. Trust me, you don’t want that,” Jackson said.

  Asha almost caused Morgan to lose control of the car when she leaned over the front seat to get a better look and her hair gently brushed his shoulder. When she saw that there was nothing on the block but an old junkyard, she frowned. “Perimeter of what? There’s nothing out here but trash!”

  “Kick back and watch, shorty. You might learn something.” Jackson winked before sliding out of the Hummer. When he got within ten feet of the tall fence the cameras mounted at their corners sprang to life and zeroed in on Jackson. He gave a sarcastic wave before beginning the numeric sequence that unlocked the gate. On the other side of the gate there was what looked like an old standing ashtray. Jackson flipped the lid back and fumbled with something, and the cameras went back into hibernation. Only when the flashing red lights had died did he wave the Hummer through.

  “Figures they would make their base in a junkyard,” Asha mumbled, watching the piles of debris they passed as Morgan drove deeper into the enclosure.

  “If you’d prefer we could drop you on the street,” Morgan said from behind the wheel.

  “She was only joking. We’re very grateful to have someplace safe to crash,” De Mona said. She cut her eyes at Asha, who twisted her lips.

  Jackson strode casually alongside the transport, fumbling with some kind of handheld device as he went. De Mona watched him curiously from the window of the Hummer. Jackson must have felt her eyes on him because he suddenly looked up and smiled. De Mona flipped him off and rolled the window up.

  Along both sides of the narrow driveway were large mountains of trash and scrap metal. At the end of the driveway was a structure that resembled an airport hangar. It was almost half the size of the yard, with a domed roof and two gaping doors serving as the entrance. As the Hummer approached the doors they slid open to reveal what looked like a pit of darkness. Morgan spared a glance at the others through the rearview mirror and coasted into the hangar. When the doors closed behind them everything went dark. There was a brief humming before the hangar was illuminated by a faint red light. For all intents and purposes it looked no different than the interior of any other garage, but something about the place unnerved Fin.

  Fin sat bolt upright and cast his terrified eyes out the window. “We shouldn’t be here.”

  “Fin, what’s wrong?” Lydia asked, startled by his sudden movement.

  Finnious cupped Lydia’s face and stared into her unseeing eyes. “Don’t you feel it, Lydia? This place is bad.”

  Morgan tried to calm him. “My friend, I assure you that no harm will come to you here.”

  “No, no, this isn’t right. Black magic clings to this place like dead skin.” He unexpectedly grabbed Rogue by the arm. “You must make him take us away from here!”

  “Calm down, son, everything is gonna be cool.” Rogue scanned the hangar with his heightened vision. There were indeed dark threads of energy snaking around the place, but he could feel no immediate threat. On his second sweep of the hangar he spotted something: a robed man standing just in front of the Hummer who hadn’t been there before. Rogue touched his gun for reassurance and glared at Morgan. “What’s the deal, big man?”

  Morgan put the Hummer in park. “Are all of you magicians so god-awful paranoid?”

  “Only when it comes to snakes,” Asha said. She too was clearly uneasy.

  “Snakes? That was a good one.” Jackson laughed as he held the back door open for them to get out of the Hummer.

  “I’m not going out there,” Finnious said.

  “None of us are until we’re sure what’s going on.” Lydia pulled Fin closer. She could not see the robed man, but she could feel the tension among the others.

  Morgan turned and addressed his passengers. “You can all stay inside and debate theories or come out and be given a proper explanation. It makes no difference to me.” He climbed from the vehicle and went to greet the robed man.

  De Mona peered out the window at the exchange. She could see better in the dark than any of them, with the exception of Rogue, but for some reason she couldn’t penetrate the darkness veiling the robed man’s face. She turned to Gabriel, who seemed to be oblivious to their dilemma. “And what does our fearless leader say?”

  “What?” Gabriel snapped out of his daze.

  “How ’bout it, kid? You getting anything from the Bishop on this place?” Rogue asked.

  Gabriel closed his eyes and tried to establish contact with the Bishop. The spirit was restless, but about what he either couldn’t or wouldn’t say. “I don’t know,” he said.

  “That’s reassuring,” Asha mumbled. Azuma echoed her sentiment.

  Jackson sighed. “Look, I know we’ve all been through some pretty weird crap, but now isn’t the time to start getting all paranoid about each other. We risked our asses for you guys last night, so I think we’ve earned at least a little trust.”

  “Says you. For all we know this could be another ambush,” De Mona accused.

  “Right, we put ourselves on the shit list of every demon-worshiping sadist in the city just so we could lure you back here to kill you,” Jackson said sarcastically. “If we wanted you dead then why didn’t we just let Riel finish you off at the brownstone?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you wanted to collect the bounty on our heads for yourself,” De Mona shot back.

  “Look, I’m getting a little tired of your mouth,” Jackson told De Mona heatedly.

  De Mona bared her fangs. “Then why don’t you come close it for me?”

  Jackson’s blades appeared. “Gladly.” He took a step toward the Hummer, but the sound of a gun being co
cked gave him pause.

  “Why don’t you just calm down, son? No need to go getting yourself blasted,” Rogue warned.

  “Blasting him would only insure that you died here instead of out there fighting the real enemy.” Morgan approached the vehicle. His hammer was in his hand, but not in a threatening manner. “Now, we could all square off and leave it to fate or you could stop acting like a bunch of rattled children and come and meet your host. It was his decision for us to intervene so the least you could do is thank the man.” Morgan hoisted his hammer onto his shoulder and walked away. Jackson followed a few paces behind.

  An uncomfortable silence lingered in the truck. Everyone had their own opinion about how the situation should be handled, but because Rogue was holding the gun, Rogue was calling the shots. However, before he could make a decision Lydia spoke up.

  “I trust him,” she said. “They’ve bled for the order twice in a night. The least we could do is hear them out.”

  “Bad magic lives here,” Fin said. He was trembling so badly that his form had begun fading in and out again. Lydia reached out to comfort him, but her hands passed through him.

  “I’m with the little guy on this one. Rogue, there’s definitely something lurking here,” Asha said, glaring at the hooded man through the windshield. “We need to throw this baby in gear and haul ass outta here.”

  Rogue raised his eyebrow. “And go where? I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but there aren’t many places we can go right now where Titus’s people aren’t looking for us,” Rogue pointed out.

  Gabriel’s face twisted in frustration. “You guys can sit in here debating about it all you want, but if whoever this dude is can tell us how to save my grandfather then he’s going to.” Gabriel stepped defiantly from the truck.

  “Gabriel!” Asha called after him, but the young man ignored her. She looked at Rogue, who just shrugged and got out as well. Asha sucked her teeth. “Out of the damn frying pan,” she mumbled before following the mage.

  Morgan, Jackson, and the hooded man were speaking among themselves when they noticed the young man approaching. The trident hadn’t manifested, but Gabriel was giving off enough energy to illuminate the hangar. Morgan moved to step between Gabriel and the hooded man who waved him away.

  “Let him pass,” the hooded man said softly. “Welcome, Gabriel Redfeather. It is an honor to—”

  “I wish I could say the same but I don’t know you,” Gabriel cut him off. “Who are you and where do you fit into all this?”

  “Yes, where are my manners?” He pushed his hood back to reveal a face that was nothing like what any of them had expected. His skin was a moldy shade of green, with small sparkling scales slightly upraised about his cheeks and circling his rich brown eyes. Crowning his head were a half dozen snakes, which slithered about of their own accord. The robed man was no man at all, but a creature that looked like it had crawled out of Greek mythology. “I am Jonas.”

  De Mona was the first to snap out of the shock inflicted upon them by the sight of Jonas’s face.

  “I knew it was a freaking setup. I’m gonna waste you!” De Mona moved lightning quick, but Jackson was faster as he deflected her strike with one of his blades. She turned her rage on him, but it was an uncoordinated strike and before she could finish the motion he was behind her, holding the half-demon in a reverse choke hold.

  Jackson slowly extended his blade and placed it against her throat. “As much as I want a taste of that sweet little ass of yours, this is hardly what I had in mind,” he whispered. “Now why don’t you relax?”

  “You’d better let her go, or I’m gonna turn you into barbecue,” Asha warned as she called her magic to her hands. The power crackled around her fists like water being dropped into hot grease.

  Jackson moved De Mona to shield him. “Blast away, baby, and we’ll see if her demon hide can take one of those souped-up bolts of magic you like to throw around.”

  “Last warning. Let her go or I’m going to let Azuma kick the shit outta you,” Asha said, drawing a squawk of anticipation from the monkey.

  Jackson gave the monkey an amused glance. “Sure, what’s Cheetah gonna do? Claw my eyes out?” He laughed.

  “I was thinking more along the lines of busting your skull open. Azuma”—Asha pointed a glowing hand at him—“attend your mistress!”

  Azuma howled in pain as his body responded to his mistress’s command. Sparks of magic leaped from his fur and he clawed at himself as if trying to fend off some internal enemy. They all watched in wide-eyed shock as the monkey’s fur darkened and his body began to grow. When the transformation was complete Azuma was no longer a small monkey, but a salivating gorilla with bull horns jutting from its skull. Azuma looked down at Jackson and snarled.

  “Oh, shit” was all Jackson had time to blurt out before everything went black.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Azuma had palmed Jackson’s face and thrown him across the room with the ease of a pebble, sending Jackson through the wall and out into the junkyard. Azuma let out a victorious roar so powerful that the walls of the hangar shook. The enraged primate locked Jonas in his sights and was charging in his direction when Morgan stepped between him with his hammer held firmly at his side. The gorilla snarled and slammed his fist against the ground, leaving two large holes at Morgan’s feet, but the large man was unmoved by the performance.

  With his hard eyes locked on the gorilla’s, Morgan said, “Now that you’ve had your say, I’ll have mine.”

  He hurled himself and the hammer at the gorilla’s midsection with the speed of a bullet. The force knocked Azuma into the Hummer, stealing his breath, but it only slowed him for a moment before he was coming right back at Morgan. Jonas screamed for him to stop, but the battle rage made Morgan deaf to his pleas. He brought the hammer around in an arc and slammed it into the gorilla’s chest before going back to his gut. The more he hit Azuma, the smaller the familiar seemed to get. By the time Azuma was back to his normal size he was hanging limply in Morgan’s massive fist, breathing jaggedly. Still locked in the heat of battle, Morgan drew the hammer back for the death strike, but a bullet whistling past his ear drew his attention to the new threat.

  “Enough,” Rogue said, still pointing the smoking gun at Morgan. “Whenever I miss it’s on purpose and never twice.” He let the threat linger to make sure Morgan understood before turning back to Asha, who was lying on the ground unmoving. Blood ran from her nose and the corners of her eyes, but she was still alive. She moaned softly as Rogue and Lydia tried to sit her up.

  When Morgan finally processed what he was seeing he took a worried step toward Asha, but De Mona cut him off. “I ain’t going down as easy as that monkey did.”

  Morgan backed away to a respectable distance. Looking at Asha’s battered form reminded him of how the demons had left him the night his wife and daughter were slaughtered. “But I never touched the girl. How did this happen?” he asked sadly.

  “You didn’t have to. It was her connection to the familiar.” Jonas placed a reassuring hand on Morgan’s shoulder. Few knew of the connection between a witch and her familiar, but those who did knew that it was the lifeline of their power. Killing a bound familiar was as good as physically crippling the witch, or worse. “Gabriel”—Jonas turned to him—“we haven’t brought you here to harm you. You have to believe me on that.”

  “And give us a good reason why we should?” Rogue stood and joined Gabriel, who was just studying Jonas curiously. “You walk us into a demon lair and nearly kill one of ours, and we should trust you? You and those snakes on your head must be hitting the pipe. We’re getting out of here.” Rogue pulled Gabriel toward Lydia and Asha, who was just getting to her feet.

  “If you leave, you’ll never solve the riddle of the trident or save Redfeather. I know the secret of the Bishop,” Jonas called after him.

  Rogue turned. “Oh yeah, and how did you come upon that information?” he asked.

  “Because I was there w
hen the Bishop was killed,” Jonas admitted. This came as a shock to everyone, including Morgan. “It’s a complicated story. If you’ll all just please come inside, I will explain everything.”

  “And how are we to know you’re not just bullshitting?” De Mona asked.

  “You wouldn’t, but he would.” Jonas pointed at Gabriel.

  “Me? Jonas, except for Rogue I don’t know anyone in this room from a can of paint. How am I supposed to know if you’re telling the truth?” Gabriel asked.

  The snakes on Jonas’s head hissed to themselves as he glided closer to Gabriel. “Because of the magic.” He nodded at the tattooed arm. “Magic that old can be lied to, but never fooled. If you call it, it will answer.” Jonas extended his hand.

  “Easy now.” Rogue pointed his gun at Jonas.

  “It’s cool.” Gabriel stepped forward. The Nimrod snaked from his arm like a wisp of smoke and materialized in his hand. When Gabriel looked up at Jonas it was with a young student’s face, but he wore an expression Jonas hadn’t seen in centuries.

  “Spin your lies, Medusan, but it changes nothing between us.” The Bishop’s words poured from Gabriel’s lips, causing Jonas to step back.

  Do not listen to the watcher. He will try and deceive you, the Bishop warned Gabriel.

  “No more than you already have, I gather.” Gabriel ignored the Bishop and reached for Jonas’s hand. When their skin made contact Gabriel’s mind was flooded with thousands of images that felt like they were ripping his brain to pieces. He saw Jonas whispering in the shadows with Titus and them casting some sort of spell. In the next image he saw the Bishop, bloodied and lying on a barren hill at the feet of Titus. That image melted away and he saw a city of glass being overrun by the hordes of Belthon with Titus leading the charge. Titus looked up, as if he could see Gabriel through the vision, and laughed. The image suddenly shattered, rocking Gabriel with pain and dropping him to one knee.

  “The pain,” Gabriel croaked.

  There is no greater cleanser than the pain of the truth, boy. You’d do well to remember that, the Bishop told him. He said something else, but his voice trailed back to the distorted humming it had been earlier.

 

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