Drop Dead Demons

by Kirk, A

  “They’re being cautious.” Matthias’s voice was steady. “They’re not sure how permanent his recovery is and were afraid seeing his family too soon would cause him to regress. This field trip — to another secure Mandatum facility, so don’t worry — is a way to have him experience a different environment, see how he reacts, and hopefully, strengthen his ability—”

  “To cope with new situations and environments,” I said. “It’s something they did when I was afraid to leave the hospital.” Then I added quickly, “Not that your dad’s afraid, but if he’s only been at Novo for so long, it makes sense that they’re trying to acclimate him to other places. Which also means they think he has a chance to get out of Novo at some point. That’s good news.”

  Jayden gave me a surprised look, “Actually, I’d concur with that assessment.”

  “See, dude, you overreacted,” Blake slapped Tristan’s shoulder. “It’s all good news.”

  Tristan huffed a little breath, then smiled. “When can I see him?”

  “It’s delicate, mate,” Matthias said with sympathy. “They want you to sit tight for now. Said they’d call in a few days when he gets back. Let you know his status. But either way, I made them promise you could visit soon.”

  Tristan rolled his eyes. “I’m just supposed to sit around and wait?”

  “Between hidden tunnels, long lost treasure, and a Mandatum tracker that could blow us out of the water, I think we can keep you busy,” Logan said.

  Tristan blinked. “This is why I can’t leave you guys alone for even a few hours.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  After we got Tristan up to speed, he and Blake got busy. They sat at the computer console creating a map of the previously unknown tunnels with Tristan entering coordinates based on Blake’s verbal directions and notes scribbled on paper. The rest of the boys had disappeared for various errands. We were supposed to call them when the map was ready.

  “Make me another.” Tristan handed Blake his coffee mug.

  Tristan was on his third cappuccino from the new machine gleaming behind the bar. It was an elaborate affair of hammered copper and brass, the size of a child’s doll house and full of so many domed cylinders it reminded me of a fairytale castle.

  “Make your own, dude.” Blake eyed Tristan’s shaky hand. “And you should probably switch to decaf.”

  Tristan banged his mug down and kept working.

  Sitting next to Blake, sipping my own yummy brew, I’d just finished sharing what I remembered about the layout of the tunnels that Logan and I had wandered through. Blake added my recollections to his many pages of sketches.

  “Impressive,” I said with sincerity, admiring not only his artistic talent but the extensive level of information. “You got all this without going into any of the tunnels?”

  “I can read the earth, babe,” he grinned. “Almost as well I read women, and once the veils were broken—”

  “Veils?” I frowned.

  “A type of cloaking device.” Tristan said. “Still not sure how Flint pulled it off, but all these years it kept the tunnels invisible to even the strongest of earth Mandatum hunters.”

  “But not me,” Blake said with pride.

  I gave him a dubious look. “You said Fido breaking through the wall broke the veils and that’s why you could finally ‘see’ the tunnels.”

  “I said that could be the reason. More likely, it was just my day to be awesome.” He sang the last word then pointed at the computer screen. “Dude, that’s off three degrees.” He turned back to me. “Anyway, now all I had to do was touch the walls and ground outside the tunnels, and I can literally read through miles of the terrain. Get a type of geological map in my head. Then I give techno-boy here the coordinates.” He thumped Tristan.

  “And I do the important work,” Tristan said.

  “No way, dude.” Blake said. “My skills got all this without anyone having to go in the tunnels with that crazy gal spouting off threats and trying to kill anything or anyone Mandatum.” He thought for a moment. “But she does have a sexy voice. I’ll bet she’s hot.”

  “No, she’s cold,” Tristan said without taking his eyes from his task. “As in stone cold. She’s dead.”

  “Ew,” Blake cringed. “Not a good visual for my fantasies.”

  Tristan smirked. “None of your fantasies are good visuals.”

  “Ha! If you were in my fantasies—”

  “I’d want to kill myself.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  I shook my head. “Tristan, why do you think she’s dead?”

  “Killed herself ’cause she’s in Blake’s fantasies.”

  I laughed, happy about his lighthearted mood.

  Blake swatted the back of Tristan’s head. “Hurtful, dude.”

  Tristan kicked Blake’s chair so it rolled a few feet. “I’m sure her voice is just a recording Flint made with one of his gadgets. And that would’ve been over a hundred years ago. So, yes. Dead.”

  Logan entered the game room. “Is it ready?”

  “Almost,” Blake said. “Where’s Jayden?”

  “In the kitchen.” Ayden said, following close behind Logan. His clothes and hair were soaked, dripping a trail of water behind him as he hauled in a large metal footlocker.

  He carried it by thick leather straps attached on either end, and I could tell it was heavy because it was like a wet T-shirt contest in here. The drenched fabric clung to every sculptured line of Ayden’s torso and revealed in detail how his muscles flexed to hold the weight. It was glorious. If you were into that sort of thing. And based how my breath caught at the sight, I was.

  Ayden regripped the handles and like ripples on a pond, sinew flowed under his skin. “And my dear brother is apparently way too busy to help get the Flint files which were in the boathouse in the cache he designed which is, of course, underwater and which he can get to without getting wet. But the rest of us? Not so much.”

  Logan paused at the balcony doorway. “I told you I could help with that.”

  “Don’t think so.” Ayden dumped the trunk on the floor and shook himself like a dog.

  “It will just take a second,” Logan persisted.

  “Let it go, Logan.” Ayden said. “I’m good.”

  He started to lift the hem of his shirt to wipe beads of water off his face. As the fabric peeled up off his stomach, ready to expose some serious skin, a turbulent blast of air came out of nowhere. It tornadoed around him, whipping over his body and flapping his clothes.

  I jumped and almost bit my tongue because… I might have been licking my lips when the gust hit. Go figure. The whirlwind lasted only seconds.

  Unfazed, Ayden let go of his shirt and glared at Logan. “Seriously?”

  But the white-haired wonder ignored him, already working the balcony railing like a world class gymnast on the balance beam.

  Ayden raised his voice. “I don’t like this new little trick of yours.” His hair stuck out all over his head. He used both hands to slick it back which made him look older. And kind of…sexy dangerous.

  He caught my stare. Something registered in his eyes, and he gave me a slow, wicked smile. Heat licked up my spine and lashed a deep blush across my cheeks. I jerked my gaze away, a hand to my throat because it seemed like something threatened to strangle me.

  “Aren’t we, ah,” I coughed to remove the squeak from my tone and reboot my vocal cords, “worried about the tracker in the files?”

  Good girl, Aurora, focus on the threats to your life, not your heart.

  “Get that out of here!” Tristan gawked into the game room, tipped so far back in his chair he would have fallen if Blake hadn’t caught him. “Cacciatori could be tracing it!”

  “Not right now.” Ayden sat on the trunk and tapped his knuckle on the edge. “Jayden says this particular metal alloy will weaken the tracker. Or something. It’ll slow Cacciatori down. Buy us that extra day or even more because—”

  “He’s so supreme?” Tr
istan butted in with a high-strung hint of sarcasm. “He’d better be right. I’m not about to get my dad back and have him visit me in a Mandatum dungeon.”

  I started to laugh at the dungeon comment, but studying the rest of the guys’ faces, I realized he wasn’t joking. Fantastic. If we didn’t hurry, we’d all be in dungeons. At least I’d have company.

  I stood and paced, picking up a beaker, pinging it nervously with my fingernail. I paused when I realized it was the broken one Mr. Ishida had put back together.

  “He’s a Revertor,” came Ayden’s voice immediately behind me.

  Startled, I dropped the glass, but he reached around and caught it easily, his chest touching my back. At the contact, heat skittered across my shoulders. My eyes swept sideways, traveling up the length of his bare arm, watching rivulets of water upon his skin meander down through the contours of his muscles.

  His warm breath skated over the back of my neck. The damp aroma of the lake clung to his clothes, but the scent of sandalwood still lingered beneath. He lifted the beaker and twirled it in the light.

  “See, not a crack.” His voice rumbled next to my ear.

  And under my skin, ready to infiltrate my heart and crumble any resolve to keep my distance.

  I snatched the glass and moved away. “What are you doing?”

  “Telling you something you didn’t know. It’s called sharing.” He followed my retreat, smiling. Like a cat. A Cheshire cat. Too knowing. It made me twitchy. “My dad can kind of …rewind the damage on inanimate objects. I told you the hunter thing is genetic. We have lots of powers in our family line.”

  Despite my irritation, I was interested. “You don’t get the same powers as your parents?”

  “Sometimes none at all,” he shrugged. “Like Jocelyn.”

  “Don’t forget your dad’s a smuggler too,” Blake said. “Way more cool.”

  Ayden laughed. “Sometimes, yes. But retired. Semi.”

  “What did he smuggle?” I had to ask.

  “My mom for one. Smuggled her out of one heck of a jam.” Ayden leaned in close and lowered his voice. “And according to her, hijacked her heart at the very same time.”

  His eyes, dark and playful, wouldn’t let go of mine. I felt the intensity building. He moved to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear, but I batted his hand and whirled away.

  “Tristan, aren’t you done yet?” I said.

  “Because the nagging is so helpful.” Tristan spun his chair and faced the middle of the room. “But, yeah. It’s showtime.”

  There was a hum. Lights flickered. Then the magic happened.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  As if someone was drawing at super-speed using a laser light-stick, a miniature 3-D holographic rendering of the town of Gossamer Falls came to life in mid-air. Hovering just above eye level and measuring six feet at its longest length, the hologram shimmered and glowed in wavering shades of white, blue, and green.

  In this fantastical image, the lake took center stage, the jagged shoreline broken up by off-shoots of large bays and small coves. Upon its shores, the surrounding community’s buildings, roads, parks, and forest emerged in full detail. And it all seemed alive.

  A breeze fluttered the leaves of the trees, water flowed through the winding streams and steep gorges, and the pounding currents of the waterfall poured over the cliff’s edge, crashing into the deep pools below in a billowing, sparkling mist. Only things missing were miniature cars and people moving about their daily lives.

  The shape of the lake was basically an oval, lying lengthwise from east to west, tucked in a long valley with the mountains jutting up around it. Starting on the west end was the main town with neighborhood houses and various buildings, such as the country club. This section spread clockwise to the north and east, covering about two-thirds of the northern perimeter. Then the mountains took over, and at the east end, directly opposite the town, was the waterfall with the portal behind it.

  Continuing around the lake, curving down and clockwise on the south side, signs of civilization were sparse. Blake’s dude ranch had his house, the barn, and several outbuildings, including the guest cabins. Also located in this section loomed the imposing Gothic drama of Flint’s old house and the various smaller buildings on the estate. The rest of this mildly inhabited south end was covered with endless acres of the uninhabited forest and pastureland belonging to Blake’s family.

  While we all stood in awe, Matthias had arrived. He patted Tristan’s shoulder. “Very nice, mate.”

  Blake scoffed, “Please, he had the easy part. I provided what you’ve all been waiting for.”

  He stuck his meaty paw into the middle of the holographic image and swiped his hand down. The model of the town’s surface remained above, but Blake’s movement pulled forth another hologram directly below. The underground layer.

  In the same glowing lines of holographic light, a massive network of tunnels appeared. They spidered out underneath Gossamer Falls in a complicated layout of intersecting passageways that ran up, down, or leveled off. Some were straight and some were curved, with several sharp turns and even a few spirals. Honestly, it reminded me of Selena’s ant farm.

  “That’s amazing,” I murmured.

  “Told ya.” Blake grinned. “Watch this.”

  As he touched the hologram in various ways, things moved, allowing him to manipulate the luminous image. He could spin it completely in both directions. He could enlarge and reduce the whole illustration or just a particular area. He could separate an entire section out for closer study, highlight a section within the hologram, or turn things different colors. It was pretty cool.

  “This is straight-up creepy.” Ayden angled his head to get a closer look. “All this time and we never knew. Flint’s tunnels don’t just run from behind the waterfall to the portal like we always thought, they run—”

  “Under the entire town.” Blake was near quivering with excitement.

  “Some even lead out.” Tristan pointed at a few channels snaking out of the town under the mountains.

  Blake shouldered Tristan aside. “Did you find the tunnels? Ah, no. I did.”

  “I don’t care who found what,” Matthias snapped. “One of you start talking.”

  Blake pointed at the flickering image of our high school sitting on the south side of the lake. “The tunnels originate at Gossamer High, Flint’s old tower of doom.”

  He traced a finger along the tunnels and rotated the image, highlighting the passageways where they ran around the left edge of the lake to the main town and the majority of homes and neighborhoods. Like where I lived.

  “They break up into hundreds of short, narrow tunnels under the town,” Blake continued. “Connecting a lot of buildings together. Then they get longer and bigger as they go across the upper lake to the north under the country club, private school, and rich people houses.” Blake spun the hologram and drew our attention to a corridor that ran under a large structure. He touched the building and widened his fingers. The house expanded in size and was easily recognizable. He told Ayden, “Like yours, dude.”

  Ayden reached out and touched the building, narrowing his fingers to revert it to the smaller size.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not the one whose family practically owns the whole mountain.”

  “Just a few thousand acres.” Blake laughed and thumped Ayden which knocked him into Tristan. “Because we were too smart and had awesome supernatural powers so the bloomin’ Brits couldn’t steal it from us. No offense, Matthias.”

  The Aussie made a face. “But I’m not— Never mind.”

  My brow furrowed. “Brits?”

  “I’m part Native American, babe.” He tapped his cheek. “Didn’t you notice my swarthy complexion?”

  Ayden snorted. “Swarthy?”

  “That’s what Uncle Reece calls it.” Blake waggled his brows. “Sounds sexy. ’Cause we are. So is the fact that some of my family was on this mountain way before the settlers showed up. Makes you want to j
ump me, right now, huh, babe?”

  “Focus, Blake,” Matthias growled.

  “You’re just jealous. Sorry, chickadee,” he said with a wink. “You’ll have to jump my sexified, swarthy self later. When we don’t have a crowd. Unless you’re into that. Because I’m totally cool with group—”

  “Blake!”

  “Alas, duty calls.” Blake offered me an apologetic look and turned back to the map. “There aren’t many tunnels that go past the mountains and cliffs. See, nothing in the northeast fringes near your house, Matthias. But they start branching out again at the portal. Over here, babe.” Blake spun the hologram and reeled me to his side to point at the lake’s coves on the far east end where the iconic falls crashed and misted opposite the main town.

  I knew how to read a freakin’ map, especially since this 3-D one was idiot proof. But I bit my tongue. Blake was so happy nerding-out.

  “This big tunnel here goes from the falls around the far end of lake and all the way back to the high school. But here’s the weird part.”

  “It hasn’t been weird yet?” I smiled.

  Blake grinned back. “That big tunnel along the far end has all those little off-shoots going away from the lake. That’s my ranch. It covers all the land around the falls and the high school. Those tunnels come up to nothing. Just forest and pastures. But here’s the weirder part.” He enlarged a tunnel wall and pointed at what looked like pieces of machinery. “Most of the tunnel walls have gears and stuff built into them.”

  I remembered the pieces of metal flying out when Fido broke through. “For reinforcement?”

  “It’s more than that.” Tristan took a closer look. “It’s some sort of working machinery. Could run stuff like the lights and the fireballs. And whatever other contraptions Flint built into his security system.”

  “He also built a secret access to the church, and a lot of the original buildings.” Ayden pointed at the main town then dragged a finger through the pale lighted tunnels at the west end. The ones that curved up into buildings turned red.