I looked into the darkness beyond. Casey was on the floor, one arm and one leg bent at odd, unhealthy angles. He was unconscious so he was missing out on a lot of pain. That was a shame but the pain would wait for him at the surface of consciousness.
There were three more bodies on the floor. Two cadavers wore white coveralls and bright orange vests. The third guy was a man in a suit. They lay in a pool of blood. They were half eaten.
Beyond the bodies, six red demons stood, glaring at me with wide yellow eyes.
I looked at them and nodded. “C’mon, then. Like Mama says, ‘The day’s a-wastin’.’”
I drew Excelsior from her sheath. That was the first time I thought of my weapon as a she, but my sword is badass, so why the hell not?
28
Lesson 188: Don’t fight in an enclosed space where you can be surrounded. It was suicide for me to walk into the hangar and take on six demons. It was tempting, but fortunately, before I could make that mortal mistake, they rushed at me.
A red demon is a big thing. A door made for a human is, by comparison, a small thing. The first demon ran into my Excelsior and the length of the blade was enough to take out the throat of the demon crowding behind him.
One strike and a savage push. Two down. Four to go.
Elation shot through me. It wouldn’t last, but that little braingasm put some strength in my spine for the ordeal to come.
The next demon was more canny and led with his weapon. I leaped to the side and, since my first boyfriend was a fan of John Woo Hong Kong action flicks, I spun in the air and swept my blade down as I landed. Excelsior took both of the demon’s claws and his sword in one stroke. Black blood showered the ground as he raised his head to let out a long, keening wail. That opened his throat as my next target.
Three down. Three to go.
I was fortunate. The next in line stumbled over the demon I’d just separated from his parts. My first strike took him at the knee and the next decapitated my enemy.
I suck at bows and arrows. Swords are my jam.
Two left, but the next one shot out of the door as I was still recovering from the beheading stroke. He unfurled a leathery wing and knocked me to the side. I managed to hold on to my sword but he was on top of me in a second. I smelled his fetid breath, still roiling with the stench of human entrails.
The last demon loomed over us, a trident in hand. I’d seen what tridents can do to people when they first attacked the Keep. Demons are alien creatures but smiles are universal. Even when they are hideous and gore is still packed between the teeth, a smile is still a smile.
I squirmed harder but couldn’t budge the one on top of me. The demon used his sword to bring all his weight to bear on my weapon. He pinned me fast with the blades trapped between us.
The one with the trident laughed as he raised his weapon. A burst of energy surged through me as I pushed up with my blade and got both feet under the big demon’s hips. I lifted him a little but it wasn’t quite enough to get him off me.
I watched the tip of the trident vibrate as the demon prepared for the thrust that would take my eyes. Then I watched a blessed bullet emerge from the forehead of the trident wielder.
Maybe it was adrenaline plus demon reflexes and enhanced perception, but I swear I could see the twist of the round as it tore through the demon’s brain, small hole in back, big friggin’ chasm where it exited.
It may not have been demon reflexes, though. I have since spoken to soldiers who swore that, in their first firefight, they could see the bullets whine past. One even said he not only saw each bullet, but he saw them coming at him in the dark.
I am sure of two things, though. First, no matter who earns my distrust in this world, Manhattan will always have my back. She is an excellent sniper. A couple of hundred feet away, Manny had dropped to the top of the airstairs, lined up her shot and taken it quickly, before the trident could rip my skull apart.
The demon fell dead beside me and my attacker. Which brings us to the second thing I’m sure about: when the demon with the trident fell, the big red monster atop me was distracted for a second. I had my feet under his hips, so I pulled my left foot back while pushing with everything I had on my right foot.
He flipped to my left side and his sword and Excelsior shot sparks as the steel missed my face and throat by an inch. I circled my blade around his so I rolled on top of the demon and forced his weapon to the side.
I couldn’t reach the short sword at my waist without losing the advantage but I had two more weapons at hand. Actually, I had two more weapons at head.
I lowered my head and gored the demon through the throat. When I whipped my head to the side, the monster beneath me began to gurgle through blood.
Death by drowning in your own black blood is a terrible thing to experience. However, when you do it to the thing who is so intent on killing you, it’s not so bad to witness. I needed a bit of triumph and, God help me, I felt the thrill of battle in that moment.
Sometimes people will tell you something is okay when it’s really bad. They’ll say everything happens for a reason or that, “change is good.” What they really mean is something terrible happened and if we put enough ketchup on this shitburger, maybe it’ll taste good. No matter how many soothing words and how much ketchup people use, we all know it’s still a shitburger.
I’m not saying I love or even like my horns. I want to be able to walk down any street and not have people gawk and catcall. I want to be equal and invisible. I want to be left alone.
Still, in the heat of battle with the monsters who meant to kill me at my feet, I was glad of the extra weapons at my disposal.
Every weakness can be turned to a hidden strength. With the right attitude and action, anybody can feel like a champion. I guess that was my positive attitude speech. I had my own follow-your-passion, Tim Ferriss, Anthony Robbins, Winnie the Pooh feel-good and feel-good-about-ourselves moment because I kept fighting when giving up looked much easier to do. That’s Lesson 188.
Gasping for breath, I walked back to the jet, ran up the steps to Manhattan and gave her a hug. Then I kissed her right on the lips. For all her flirting, she actually looked shocked and maybe a little appalled.
I smiled and swaggered on to the plane and announced to my team that I strongly suspected we’d been duped. The Keep had not yet fallen. Our friends and family were most likely still alive. “The Choir Invisible lives!” They jumped up and down. They applauded.
For the first time since his capture we heard from the demon mage, too. The properties of Pandora’s box made it impossible for us to hear him speak. However, Chronos did pound on the walls of his tiny prison in rage. I joined Spider atop Pandora’s box and knocked on the cover with the rat-a-tat-tat of Shave and a haircut.
“What are your orders, Iowa?” Malta asked. For the first time, she looked happy to ask.
“Psymon! Phone your daughter and give Fawn our love. Malta, tell the pilot to begin his pre-flight check, warm up the engines and get clearance from the tower. I want wheels up as soon as possible. Dallas! Austin! Drag those monsters’ bodies back into the hangar and find a way to set them on fire.”
They nodded and ran to work on their task.
“Manny,” I said, “could you please drag that sack of crap Lt. Casey out of the hangar before it goes up in smoke? Put in a call to Victor about getting some real Pentagon connection out here to take him prisoner and interrogate him. Maybe he can help us figure out how deep the rot goes. I’d take him with us, but without medical attention soon, he might die before we get to New York.”
I even turned to Spider, still at his post sitting on Pandora’s box. “Spider!”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You’ve been really quiet lately. I like that. Keep on shutting up.”
He opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind and closed it. He nodded and smiled behind his loose riot of a beard.
“Paul and Polly? Thank you for your service. If you guys can
make a fresh batch of that chai tea with kombucha and apple cider, I’ll give it an honest try.”
I watched everyone get to work. Wilmington looked up to me from her seat. She still looked a little weak but her wounds were closed and she looked comfortable. The Tree of Life amulet was still working away, healing her.
“You look pretty happy, boss.”
I nodded. “Why not? The Choir Invisible is still in the fight against the end of the world. I was really mad at Victor but now that I’m sure the Keep’s fall was a lie, I’m so glad he’s alive! Spider’s not giving me any back sass and I think I just figured out the cure for public speaking: kill a bunch of demons.”
“You’re killing your demons, alright,” Wil said. “Looks like everybody’s got a job but me.”
I took Manny’s seat. “Everybody needs a job. Yours is to sit there, finish healing and look pretty.”
“I look pretty all the time. Pretty was never the problem.”
“Okay. I can ask you something. How do you get black blood out of your armor? The steel will shine up fine, but what are the washing instructions to get sticky demon blood off of Kevlar?”
29
When we landed in Newark a helicopter was waiting to carry us to Brooklyn. Mr. Chang met us on the tarmac. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when Malta ran to her father and hugged him tight. Maybe you don’t have to go to Disney Land to make a trip to California a life-changing event.
To my surprise, Victor waited for me in the helicopter. He motioned to me and I sat beside him. He shook my hand. “I spoke to Devin’s doctors. Mr. Anguloora will be back at the Keep at some point, screaming at the recruits. Good job.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He looked to the silver case in my hand. “I see you brought back more than Chronos. Do you want to know what’s in it?”
“Anguloora said it was the solution to the demon war.”
“Oh, I doubt it’s quite that grand,” the old man said. “I might have overstated its importance to motivate him.”
“He burned alive for it.”
“Well, it will help immensely, yes.”
“It better. Minneapolis isn’t coming back.”
Victor nodded gravely. “What is in that case will slow their invasion plans certainly. That could make a big difference down the line. It could stall things, do them damage and give us more time to prepare our defenses. The Choir needs more sword singers…more of everything. I’m working on the funding — ”
“Great,” I said, “but I don’t care about any of that right now. I lost Minneapolis and I lost my trust in you, sir.”
“Oh?”
“You lost your trust in me first,” I said.
Victor Fuentes sighed and watched the rest of my team haul the big black box off the jet. “Your father was a friend of mine, since before forever. We had a lot in common, Iowa. We were like brothers. He betrayed us and now, in the midst of war, his daughter wants me to entrust all the Choir Invisible’s secrets to her, as well.”
“I’ve sacrificed for the Choir. I’ve fought for the Choir. With or without the horns, I am the Choir.”
“You are,” he said. “I’m sorry. Would it help if I tell you everything from now on?”
“It would, but I’ll never know if you’re telling me everything.”
“All truth comes out eventually,” Victor said. “Put that in your next recruitment book.” (Okay. There’s Lesson 189, people.)
“Never mind eventually,” I said. “Just tell me the trip was worth Minnie’s life.”
“I think so, yes,” Victor said. “But Minnie might not agree. There’s the truth of it.”
“Then I prefer lies.”
“Then her sacrifice was definitely worth it and I’m sorry I split hairs.”
“Fine.”
“Really fine?”
“No, sir.”
“We’ll hold the usual ceremony for Minneapolis,” he said, “after we deal with Merlin.”
“Malta briefed you about our security breach?”
“Yes. This man, Casey, was inside the Pentagon. There’s treason and conspiracy within our network,” Victor said. “Casey couldn’t know enough to pull off that ambush by himself.”
“We thought the Keep had fallen.”
“Not yet,” Victor said. “After tonight, perhaps not for a long time.”
“What’s next?”
“The truth? The truth is, we get back to the Keep and Merlin opens the rift. We give the Ra their demon mage and I get Samantha Biggs back.”
I stared at Victor. “She’s alive?”
“I believe so,” Victor said. “Merlin says so, and, despite everything, I can’t believe your father would allow Sam to be harmed. He knew how fond I was of her.”
“Isn’t that why he would kill her?”
Victor shook his head. “You don’t understand your father, Iowa. He’s a traitor, but it’s not so simple as wanting to destroy us. He’s an appeaser. He thinks we should open our world to the Ra as a humanitarian gesture. He believes there is a middle way. I believe if we let the Ra in, it will be our destruction. Genocide is certain if the demons come but your father doesn’t see it that way.”
“So, a prisoner exchange.” I glanced at the case. “With a trick and a trap for the Darkness Visible.”
Victor shrugged. “We’ll only be able to do a prisoner exchange like this once. I want to make it count and maximize the strategic opportunity at the same time. It’s a gamble, but I can think of few people worth the risk as your old boss and my old employee.”
“Samantha is more than that,” I said. “She’s my friend. You were more than a friend or employer to her, too, sir.”
His eyebrows shot high.
“Girls talk girl talk,” I said.
He shifted in his seat. “So you know she and I were…intimate?”
“Yes.”
“Well…there was more to it than a fling on an office desk, I assure you. I’d hoped to marry her. However, there was the uh…age difference. Things went awry. It was love for a while, though. It’s still love, at least for me. The relationship made…something special.”
“Then we’ll get her back,” I said.
Lesson 190: I know it sounds like a stupid cliche rich people use on poor people, but you really don’t want everything you think you want.
We were in the air, deafened by the chop of the rotors, before I realized that Victor had mentioned nothing about Chronos setting Merlin free of the curse of his hideous immortality. I assumed that meant Victor was double-crossing Merlin.
I was wrong. Someone was still fooling the girl with the horns.
30
Along the walls of Merlin’s vast watery chamber, almost every Magical in the Keep stood shoulder to shoulder. They were quiet and many appeared to be praying.
Pandora’s box, still sealed, was placed at the water’s edge. Spider withdrew from guarding Chronos, took a place along the wall beside the Amish warlocks and began a low, muttering chant.
Merlin emerged from his inner chamber and, before the door swung closed behind him, I caught what was playing on his massive flat screen. Ebeneezer Scrooge was trying to bargain with Death. It wasn’t the version of A Christmas Carol in black and white with Alastair Sim. It was the TV movie Mama preferred, with Henry Winkler. Mama’s been in love with that actor since he was the Fonz. I’d almost forgotten it was Christmas Eve.
Merlin strode regally about the room bowing to each Magical in turn. Despite his creepy mask, I thought he was doing a pretentious Dumbledore impression. Each Magical bowed, too, but the old wizard’s body language suggested he was a king gracing his subjects with his presence.
I searched the group for Psymon but neither he nor Fawn were present. After all that had happened, I didn’t blame Psymon for staying away from that box and keeping his daughter far away, too.
Manny and Wil flanked me. Wilmington looked happy and relaxed and, best of all, alive and well. The green flower i
n the middle of her amulet glowed a healthy green, too.
“How are you feeling, Wil?” I whispered.
“New. I feel shiny and new.”
Manny leaned across me and planted a sweet kiss on Wilmington’s lips. “Glad you’re here, babe.”
“The word is Victor is going to put a stop to the war tonight,” Wilmington said. “I’m glad I didn’t miss saving the world.”
I thought of Casey’s military term for rumor: Rumint. Rumor plus intelligence.
“What’s in the case, do you think?” Wilmington asked.
“I’m just speculating,” Manny said, “but I’m guessing demon small pox.”
“Why would Chronos be keeping demon small pox in his house?” I asked. “I’m going to guess it’s a spell that makes the entire demon race no more than three inches tall. They won’t bother us again until they evolve to be at least two feet tall. It’ll be like smacking big bats out of the air and squashing angry toddlers.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Manny said. “If the war is over — ”
“Or paused for a while,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah. But if it’s over, what do you guys want to do first? I want to go to a beach and lay out in the sun and listen to some tunes and at night make s’mores over a campfire. Then I want to watch everything on Netflix I never get around to. Gilmore Girls and Breaking Bad again and…everything fun.”
“Add Goodfellas and The Godfather and a Sopranos marathon,” Wilmington said.
Manhattan leered. “And you in a bikini.”
“I don’t usually do bikinis, but I would now if I could,” Wilmington said. “Since this Tree of Life doohickey, my appendix scar is gone. It’s too bad I won’t get to enjoy it.”
Manny and I looked to Wilmington and said, “What?” at the same time.
Wilmington looked back placidly. “This is my moment.”
Merlin stood before us. He bowed and held out his hand to Wilmington. She stared at him for just a moment, took a deep breath and reached for the amulet that had saved her life.
“Wil! No, wait.” I said.
Fierce Lessons (Ghosts & Demons Series Book 3) Page 15