by Lexi George
“Don’t panic and carry a towel,” Latrisse said, waving one of Brenda’s kitchen cloths at her. “We’ll have this place cleaned up in no time.”
Toby and Song pitched in and, to Beck’s surprise, so did Evan. The five of them had the food put away and the kitchen clean and tidy in a little more than an hour. Song and Latrisse said their good-byes and left, and Evan flopped on the living room sofa like he owned the place.
“Don’t you have someplace else to be?” she asked, looking down at him with her hands on her hips. “Any place else?”
Evan settled against the cushions and crossed his feet at the ankles. “Nope. Jason and Brenda invited me to stay the night. Wasn’t that nice of them?”
“Jim Dandy,” Beck said, going to check on the kids. She found Conall sitting on the big couch between the two little girls. He seemed engrossed in the movie. Jay was sprawled on the floor on his stomach, heels up, chin resting on his hands. To Beck’s surprise, Meredith was curled up in an armchair watching the movie with them.
Boo Lily the dachshund was curled in a sleek knot on Conall’s lap, one eye slightly cracked and aimed at the ghost. The crotch of safety, Beck thought in amusement, looking at the contented hound. Even the dog liked Conall.
“By the sword, that Lydia was a wicked sorceress,” Conall said when the movie ended. “The damsels Alexa and Liana were stalwart friends to overcome such evil.”
“It’s okay.” Jay rolled onto his back and pointed his Armadillo Vengeance Blaster at the ceiling. “The dragon is the coolest part.”
“A most fearsome beast,” Conall agreed. “I am glad the witch and the worm were turned to stone.”
He was discussing a Barbie movie with the same seriousness and gravity, Beck suspected, that he employed during a council of war with the Dal. She loved that about him.
Love, love, love. The word spun around in her brain, leaving her reeling and unsteady as a drunken clown teetering on a high wire.
The Big Truth, the one that she’d been trying to ignore for days, smacked her in the face like a banana cream pie. She was in love with Conall. Captain Grim, demon hunter. Mr. I-Know-Something-of-Dragons—
She loved him. She gripped the dish towel in her hands.
Don’t panic, she thought. Don’t panic.
She stumbled back into the kitchen. Who was she kidding? She was scared to death.
Chapter Thirty-seven
The telephone by the breakfast table was ringing. Jason’s cell, it blinked.
Beck snatched up the phone. “Hey, Daddy. What did the doctor say about Brenda?”
“Gall bladder.” He sounded tired, but relieved. “I hate to ask this, sugar bear, but can you stay with the kids tonight? Brenda’s never been in the hospital and she’s scared to death.”
“What about the twins?”
“Nurse practitioner,” Daddy said. “They were born at home.”
“Oh. Sure, I’ll stay with them.”
“Thanks, chickpea. I owe you one.”
Click; he was gone.
This really was the day that would never end. She wanted to go home and soak in the tub, and think about what she was going to do. She was terrified to tell Conall she loved him. She was terrified not to.
Meredith materialized in front of the fridge. “That movie sucked,” she said. “What kind of saccharine crappy-ass ending was that?”
“It’s a Barbie movie,” Beck said. “What did you expect, death and dismemberment?”
“I expected something besides puppies and sparkles and BFF shit,” Meredith said. “I’m out of here.”
“What happened to not leaving until your client gets satisfaction?”
“Screw that,” Meredith said. “But tell Emo Evan I’ll be watching him.”
She disappeared in a burst of perfume.
“That was your daddy on the phone,” Beck told the twins when she returned to the den. “Your mama’s okay.”
Jay sat up, his hands gripping the plastic gun. “D-did she have a heart attack?”
“Nope,” Beck said. “Her heart’s fine and she’s going to be all right, I promise. Daddy’s staying with her tonight, but he’ll be home in the morning.”
“But, who’ll stay with us?” Darlene’s mouth trembled.
“Me and Annie,” Beck said.
“Yay, a sleepover,” Darlene squealed, her fright forgotten at the thrill of spend-the-night company.
“Conall, too?” Jay asked.
Conall bowed. “I should be honored.”
“Yay,” the twins said, bouncing around like a couple of ping pong balls.
The back door slammed and Toby ambled in. “Garbage is taken out,” he said. “I’ll be moseying along.”
Beck felt a sudden, claustrophobic urge to get out of the house. “Wait and we’ll walk out with you. I thought I might take the kids to the park for a little fresh air.” She looked at Annie and the twins. “Would you like that?”
“Can we go to the one by the river?” Jay begged. “It’s way better than the old one.” He pointed his gun. “Pekew, pekew,” he said. “I wanna show Conall my AV Blaster.”
Beck hesitated. “I don’t know. Your mama won’t like it.”
“We’ve had swimming lessons,” Darlene insisted. “She takes us there all the time now. Besides, there’s a fence, so people won’t fall in.”
Beck looked at her watch. Jiminy Cricket; it was after two o’clock. It would be dark in a couple of hours.
“Okay, but only for a little while,” she said. “Grab your jackets. It’ll be cold down by the water.”
Five minutes later, they walked out of the house. With Evan.
“What are you, a tick?” Beck asked him.
Evan grinned. “Just enjoying a warm fuzzy with my beloved relatives.” His smile vanished. “You and I need to talk.”
“Does it have to be today?” Beck said.
“Yes, Cookie. Today.”
Toby paused on the sidewalk, his nose twitching. “I smell something.”
Conall halted beside him, his expression watchful and alert. “Is it the djegrali?”
Toby sniffed. “Nah, but it ain’t—you know—normal. Smells like Fritos.” He gave Beck a significant look. “Reckon you know what that means.”
“Reckon I don’t.”
Toby shook his head at such ignorance. “Well, they’re gone now. See ya.”
“What’s a juhgrahbi?” Jay asked as Toby climbed in Loretta and drove off.
“A Japanese motorcycle,” Beck lied, pushing him down the sidewalk. “Get in the truck.”
Evan followed them in his rental car. When they got to the park on the river, they found it empty except for an old man walking his dog along the paved path at the edge of the water. It was Thanksgiving and people were out of town visiting relatives or sitting at home in front of the television watching football.
They crossed the park to the lookout that jutted like a ship’s prow over the river. To the right, the Trammell Bridge spanned the Devil. Farther upriver was Beck’s and home. The kids leaned over the railing, oohing and ahhing at the thirty-foot drop to the water.
“Not so far,” Beck said, grabbing Jay by the jacket. “You’ll fall down and go boom.”
Annie and Darlene soon grew bored and raced for the swing set.
Jay stuck his hip out and brandished his plastic gun. “Now I can show you how it works,” he said, giving Conall a hopeful grin.
“In a minute,” Evan said. “I need grownup time with Beck and Conall.”
“Aw, shoot,” Jay said. He scuffed his athletic shoe against the cement. “You promised, Conall.”
Conall laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “And I will keep that promise. Give us but a moment.”
A large lizard poked his head out of Jay’s jacket pocket and bulged its eyes at them.
“Good grief, Jay, you brought Killer?” Beck said. “Your mama will have a cow.”
“No, she won’t. Mom hates lizards.” Jay poked Killer back i
n his pocket. “I won’t lose him. I promise.”
Promises; everything with kids was about promises.
“Lord a-mercy,” Beck muttered as Jay ran over and joined the girls. “Now, I’m responsible for a lizard.”
As soon as Jay was out of earshot, Evan pounced. “Where’s Hagilth?”
Conall regarded him with a stony expression. “The demon is no longer your affair.”
“The hell she ain’t,” Evan said. “Tell me where she is.”
“You are in no position to make demands,” Conall said. “But for my regard for your sister I would have killed you already.”
Beck stepped between the two bristling males. “Elgdrek is dead and Haggy is out of the picture,” she said to Evan. “You’re free. You should be thanking Conall.”
Evan laughed. “I’ll never be free until Hagilth is dead. Where is she?”
He was like a dog with a bone. Beck couldn’t blame him. She’d be the same way, in his shoes.
“Show him, Conall,” she said. “Please. For me.”
“Very well.” Conall held out his hand, palm up, and the djevel flaskke appeared. “Hagilth is in my keeping, and will remain so until I transport her to the Pit.”
“A bottle?” Evan shook his head. “Not good enough. What if she gets out? I want her dead. Maybe we can make a deal.”
“Deals, deals,” Beck said. “Why is it always deals with you? Not everyone can be bought.”
“Don’t be such a baby, Cookie. Everyone has a price. You just have to figure out what it is.” Evan looked at Conall, his jaw clenched. “Your boy Duncan’s been snooping around asking questions about a certain doorway. I know where it is.”
Conall’s hard expression did not change, but Beck detected a flicker of interest in his dark eyes.
“You know the location of the portal into Hannah?” Conall said. “You will tell me.”
The siren at the fire department went off, interrupting them.
“Something’s burning.” Beck looked toward town, but didn’t see any smoke. Leaning over the railing, she looked upriver. “I see it,” she said, pointing to a dark plume in the sky. “Looks like it’s close to Ora Mae’s place.”
Jay ran up to them, his face red and streaked with tears.
Conall slipped the flask in his trouser pocket. “Later, we will talk more about the portal,” he said to Evan. “I do not wish to discuss it in front of the boy.”
Beck knelt in front of Jay. “What’s the matter?”
“I was feeding Killer a bug and he bit me. I dropped him and now I can’t find him.”
“Dadflab it,” Beck said, borrowing one of Toby’s favorite words when she really wanted to say something worse. “I knew this would happen.”
She followed Jay across the park to help him look for the missing lizard. Not far away, Annie and Darlene were swinging, kicking their legs back and forth to see who could go higher.
Beck dropped to her hands and knees. She was rooting around in the bushes when Earl Skinner stepped from behind a tree. He wore a flannel shirt under a baggy army jacket, and jeans. The ferret nose and whiskers were still in place, his hair was greasy, and he smelled like wet hay.
Or Fritos, Beck thought, remembering Toby’s earlier remark. She got to her feet and shoved Jay behind her.
“Hello, bitch, looking for this?” Earl said, holding up Killer.
“That’s my lizard,” Jay said, peering around Beck. “Give him back.”
“Finders keepers, losers weepers,” Earl said. “He’s mine now.” He stuffed the lizard in his pocket and produced a nine-millimeter handgun. “Where’s your demon hunter boyfriend?” He laughed at Beck. “Don’t look so surprised. I figured that one out from Old Man Peterson’s papers.”
Conall shot across the park in a blur of motion and stepped in front of her.
“Here I am, Skinner,” he said. “You were skulking around Jason’s house earlier. Toby smelled your stench. What do you want?”
“This,” Earl said, firing the gun.
Beck screamed as Conall jerked, once, twice, and fell to his knees, toppling to the ground with a wrenching groan. Blood seeped from two bullet wounds in his chest, and spread.
“Conall.” Beck went to her knees beside him.
“Move out of the way.” Earl pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and pointed it at the dying warrior. “I’m gonna make me a little snuff film and show it to them demons. This here demon hunter’s gonna make me rich.”
“Run, Rebekah.” Conall’s voice was hoarse with pain. “Take the children and go.”
“Run, Rebekah, run.” Earl mocked him in his nasal voice. He kicked Beck out of the way and stood over Conall. “Not so tough now, are you?”
“Take it easy, Skinner.” Evan came up to them slowly, his hands in front of him so Earl could see that he was unarmed. He glanced at the frightened boy. “Jay, get the girls and get out of the park.”
Jay looked at Beck.
“Do it,” she said. “Go.”
Earl laughed as Jay took off. “That’s right. Run you little shit,” he yelled after the boy. “I know where you live.”
“Put the gun down, Skinner,” Evan said. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Screw you. You knew about the weapons. You were gonna keep it to yourself, cut the Skinners out.” He bent down and picked up the flask lying on the ground next to Conall. “Reckon I’ll keep this as a souvenir.”
“That’s mine,” Evan said, lunging at Skinner. “Give it to me.”
Skinner leveled the gun at Evan. Evan froze. “Not so fast, pretty boy,” Earl said. “I’d as soon kill you as look at you. Just you try me.”
“I want that bottle,” Evan said through his teeth. “I’ll pay you for it.”
“Pay me for it, huh?” Earl grinned and stuck the djeval flaskke in his shirt pocket. “Must be worth something if’n you want it so bad.” He aimed the gun at Conall’s head and held up his phone. “Say good-bye, asshole.”
“No.” Beck threw herself on top of Conall.
She flinched as the gun went off, waiting for the bullet to rip through her flesh. Nothing happened. She heard Earl swear and then the sharp crack of the gun being fired again and again
She lifted her head. Tommy stalked Earl around the park. The preservation spell had worn off and Tommy looked bad, real bad. His nose was gone and part of his jawbone peeked through his left cheek. He’d hung a string of air fresheners around his neck, but nothing could disguise the sickly sweet smell of decaying flesh.
Earl backed away from the zombie, firing the gun, but Tommy kept coming.
“Son of a bitch, why don’t you die?” Earl screamed.
“’Cause I’m already dead, moron,” Tommy said. He jerked the gun out of Earl’s hand and threw it. The gun sailed over the fence and plopped into the river.
Tommy sat down on the ground. “Aw, hell,” he said, looking at the bullet holes that riddled his body. “Now look what you done.”
Evan charged Skinner. “Give me that bottle, you little weasel.”
Earl Skinner turned and ran with Evan hot on his heels.
Beck crawled over to Conall and slapped him on the cheek. “Open your eyes, Conall. You even think about dying, I’ll kick your ass.”
His beautiful mouth curved in a weak smile. “Hellcat. Would that I had told you.”
Beck ripped open his shirt. “Told me what?”
“That I love you.”
“Yeah, but do you trust me?”
“Completely.”
“Good.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “ ’Cause this is going to hurt like hell.”
Ignoring Conall’s roar of pain and surprise, she stuck her hands in his chest and pulled out the bullets. Tears blurred her vision, but she couldn’t quit now. She had to get the poison out. Gritting her teeth, she held her bloody hands over the bullet wounds and concentrated. Conall arched his back and cried out again as blood and tissue contaminated with crater dust rose from the holes and dissi
pated. The wounds healed and closed before her eyes. Conall slumped to the ground and lay still.
Was he dead? Oh, dear God, had she killed him?
“Conall?” Beck grabbed the edges of his torn shirt and shook him. “Conall?”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “You were right. That hurt.”
Beck collapsed on his chest, sobbing. “Oh, thank God. I thought I’d killed you.”
He put his arms around her and held her close. “No, my one and only love,” he said. “You saved me.”
An agonized scream pierced the air. Evan burst out of the woods. The insolent pout was gone and he looked terrified.
“Run,” he shouted, dashing full tilt boogie for the park exit. “That idiot Earl opened the bottle. Hagilth’s loose.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
The dragon shrieked out of the sky and slammed into the park like a downed fighter jet, gouging the earth and shattering park equipment and trees. The monster was huge, the size of an eighteen-wheeler, with ragged golden wings and liquid eyes the size of manhole covers. She stank like a herd of dead cows bloating in the sun.
And she was pissed.
Hagilth bathed the park in flames, scorching the grass, melting the chain link fence, and setting the woods on fire. The acrid scents of smoke, sulfur, and ash choked the air, and embers of burning wood and sparks of hot metal flitted in the air like drunken fireflies.
“It’s a dragon,” Beck said stupidly. “Where did Haggy get a dragon?”
Conall got to his feet. “If you are correct and the kith cannot be possessed, then the demon must have entered the closest living creature, which, I surmise, happened to be Jay’s lizard.”
“That’s Killer?”
“So it would seem.”
“Holy shit. What happened to Earl?”
“I presume the dragon ate him.”
“Oh, my God.”
Conall drew his sword. “Make for the river. I will hold the fiend’s attention.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t fight that thing. You’ve been shot.”
“I am healed, thanks to you.”
“You almost died,” Beck said. “You lost a lot of blood and—”