Give the Devil His Due

by Blackwell, Rob

  The banshee and Carman rushed toward each other at the same moment, closing the distance between them in a blur of movement. There would be no running or escape from this fight, Kate knew. She would either kill Carman — or be killed.

  *****

  The Horseman plowed into another group of creatures that looked like huge, wet horses. Their manes were entwined with seaweed and they looked partially decayed, as if they had been left to rot underwater.

  Quinn tried to slice his way through, but the kelpies blocked his path. Within in a few short minutes, they had the Horseman entirely surrounded, their mouths snapping at his steed. His horse reared back and the rider lobbed a pumpkin, but the flame was quickly smothered. He was just wondering what to do when he heard howling nearby.

  Elyssa’s pack of dobhar-chus attacked at full force, mowing through the kelpies. At the front of the line, Elyssa didn’t even pause to acknowledge the Horseman, but cut in front of him, her companions sweeping in behind. The pack then rode forward, tearing into anything in their way.

  The Headless Horseman quickly followed in their wake, gaining ground as the castle now loomed above him.

  As he rode, questions swirled around Quinn’s head. The most pressing was whether he could even get into the castle in the first place. In his dream last year, there’d been a winding path up to the front gate, but would everything be barred now?

  The other questions were no less urgent. The plan so far was working. Quinn could tell that their army had taken a heavy toll on the enemy forces, far more than they had suffered themselves. But estimating numbers was almost impossible. And when he’d started toward the castle, the spiders and soldiers had been steadily giving ground. That didn’t bode well.

  They needed Carol’s reinforcements, but so far they were nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the enemy was bringing up new units from its rear lines. As the Horseman rode through their ranks, he saw many of the same creatures they were already fighting: kelpies, trowes, mortlats, dusios and fuath. But he also saw many more that he didn’t even recognize.

  How long could they hold out? By the time Carol arrived, she might find no one left to reinforce. But that decision was already made and there was nothing Quinn could do about it now. He also had to hope that Clinton’s units had managed to make their rendezvous. There was simply too much that could have gone wrong.

  Finally, there was the question of Sanheim himself. He knew what he was doing was foolhardy. The Lord Sanheim rules forever. No Prince of Sanheim had ever conquered here. Did Sanheim have a weakness?

  Everything Quinn had ever read about the dark god said no. But when he thought about the man he knew, every instinct screamed yes. Something about Sanheim had bothered Quinn from the very beginning, yet he couldn’t put his finger on it. He thought about everything Crowley and his biographer, Horace Camden, had written about Sanheim. Stories and images circled around in his mind.

  They were missing something. He felt like he had when he was a reporter on the trail of a good story, but without key information. In those cases, he would work his sources until the pieces fell into place. But now there was no one else to question, and he was out of time.

  As he raced toward the castle, he kept turning over everything he had heard and read. For some reason, he kept picturing the face of Crowley, the old man from the fortress, who had died before he could tell them anything. Sanheim had never intended to let Crowley give them any actual information. It had been a setup, a scheme within a scheme. Yet Quinn kept seeing his face in his mind.

  The answer hit him with such force he nearly fell out of the saddle. It couldn’t be right.

  He sifted through all the information, expecting to find something that told him this new theory was wrong. Instead, the more he mulled it over, the more he knew he was correct.

  As the Headless Horseman arrived at the path to the castle, the last piece of the puzzle finally fell into place.

  Quinn knew how he could beat Sanheim.

  *****

  Elyssa’s pack burst through the back of the enemy line.

  For a moment Quinn saw her hesitate, uncertain where to go next. But she quickly spotted the small path and began heading that way.

  Stop, Quinn called in her head. It was strange to share a mental connection with Elyssa now, but unlike Kate, this one was optional and only when needed. It had happened the moment Kate and he had given her a share of their power. She halted as he rode up to her.

  This is for me to do alone, he said.

  You’ll die, she said.

  It’s a trap up there, Quinn said. If you go with me, your pack will be cut to pieces. If I go alone…

  … they’ll kill you, she finished.

  No way, Quinn said. You know Sanheim — don’t you think he wants to see me one last time, show me how much smarter he is? It’ll give me a chance.

  Elyssa bowed her head and growled, which Quinn took for agreement.

  Go, he said. Help Kate. We still need your forces in that fight.

  Even before Elyssa made a move, the pack behind her turned, and started charging back through the enemy lines.

  The black dobhar-chu gave the Headless Horseman one last look.

  You deserve to beat him, Quinn, Elyssa said. Good luck.

  She turned back and leapt into the fray before Quinn could respond. He nudged his horse and they galloped up the winding path. He emerged in a burst of speed at the top of the hillside.

  The castle was perched on the edge of an enormous cliff. Quinn could hear the ocean crashing against the rocks far below him.

  A massive iron gate stood in front of him, held by two magnificently carved stone pillars. Quinn realized there was no way he could have broken through these gates, but he didn’t have to. They stood wide open, with no guards, obviously inviting him in.

  The Horseman galloped through and into a large courtyard where he saw people and various creatures alike watching him silently. His horse’s hoofs clattered and echoed along the stones. He didn’t stop, but kept riding straight through an arched doorway of stone that looked more like the entrance of a cathedral than a castle.

  When he rode inside, he realized he had entered a throne room. It was a cavernous room, with intricate stained-glass windows and red banners hanging from a vaulted ceiling. The room was packed with people, as if awaiting a coronation.

  A long red runner led from the doorway to the far end of the room where a single throne sat on a raised dais. As the Horseman rode closer, he could see the throne better. It was made entirely of human bones. Skulls adorned the armrests and the two posts on the back.

  There sat Sanheim, impeccably dressed, as always, in a black suit. As the Horseman approached, he stood up to greet him.

  “Welcome, my old friend,” he said.

  Quinn didn’t wait, but dismounted and landed right in front of the dais. He pulled the sword from his scabbard and stepped forward to attack.

  “Take one more step and your friends will die,” Sanheim said.

  To the side of the dais, Quinn saw Janus standing next to a petite woman with brown, curly hair. He was stunned to realize it was Summer Mandaville, his former reporting rival. Two dusios stood on either side of them, both holding sharp knives.

  The Horseman stopped in his tracks.

  “I offer you a temporary truce, Quinn,” Sanheim said, projecting his voice for the benefit of his rapt audience. “I give you my word no harm will come to you or your friends here if we can parlay for a few moments. But to do that, I want to speak to you rather than your cennad. I recognize it is Halloween, but I think the time has come for us to put our masks aside, don’t you?”

  In a flash, the Headless Horseman disappeared. When Quinn appeared, he was smiling.

  “And when we’re done with the parlay?” he asked. “What happens then?”

  Sanheim returned the smile easily.

  “Then, my friend,” Sanheim said, “I will kill you myself.”

  Chapter 42

  �
�You killed me once already,” Quinn replied calmly. “It didn’t stick.”

  “Well, that was through intermediaries,” Sanheim said. “This time it will be both personal and, as Kieran liked to say, for keeps.”

  “He gave up his life so I would have this chance,” Quinn said.

  “Such a shame that he isn’t around to see the futility of his actions,” Sanheim said. “He sacrificed himself for nothing.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Quinn said.

  Sanheim smiled again, a relaxed grin that belied the seriousness of the situation. He seemed to be playing to the crowd — talking casually as if this was all just a game. Quinn could see it in his blue eyes. Everything Quinn needed to know was right there.

  “I must congratulate you,” Sanheim said. “You’ve come further than any human ever has. The effort was futile, of course; but nevertheless, you deserve credit for reaching this point.”

  “Halloween isn’t over,” Quinn replied. “And I still have some tricks to play.”

  “Ah, but now is where you realize your folly,” Sanheim said. “There is nothing you have planned that I don’t already know. You think Carol’s reinforcements can save you? A small band of scarecrows?”

  “We seem to be doing fine so far,” Quinn said. “We may not even need them.”

  “Take a good, long look out there, Quinn. We’ll wait.”

  Quinn turned to a large window through which he could survey the battle below. His troops were distant, but still visible. He saw spiders still in the thick of battle and Elyssa’s pack running amok through enemy lines. Buzz’s soldiers were on the field firing and engaging the enemy with bayonets. Out in front, he could see flashes of green light and hear the occasional sharp scream. Carman and Kate were battling fiercely.

  On the surface, it might look good for them, but even Quinn could see their odds slipping away. As many as half of the spiders lay unmoving, and he could see hundreds of soldiers’ corpses strewn among the dead of so many different creatures. The dobhar-chus had also lost many of their number.

  The enemy troops, while worn down, still appeared impossibly strong. Quinn could see fresh troops coming up from the rear, ready to engage against far wearier opponents. The battle had been well fought, but it wasn’t enough. It was only a matter of time before Quinn and Kate’s forces fell. They had come so far, suffered so much, for no purpose.

  But Quinn rejected that idea even as it crossed his mind. That thought didn’t belong to him, but to doubt and fear. And he had already conquered those demons long ago.

  There was still hope. He still had a play to make.

  “Do you see?” Sanheim asked. “It is inevitable. It is only a shame that so many had to die to satisfy your delusions. You cannot beat me. I have known every move you have made since you arrived in my world. I know you hope Carol will come to your aid, I know you even held back some of your troops in the hopes of springing some sort of last-minute charge. I know all this because I turned your best friend against you.”

  Quinn’s eyes flicked to Janus, who looked miserably guilty. Summer clutched his hand.

  “I’m so sorry, Quinn,” Janus said.

  “That’s right,” Sanheim said, clearly enjoying gloating. “He was my pawn since the beginning. I used him to send you into Kyle Thompson’s clutches and, when that failed, he informed me you were heading toward the mountain. When you survived that as well, he reported to me regularly — every time he dreamed. And do you know why he would do such a thing? Love. What a weakness it is. It drove Kate insane, and it turned Janus into Judas.”

  “I’m sorry, Quinn,” Janus said. “I’m so sorry. It was a setup from the beginning. He had captured Summer…”

  Quinn interrupted him.

  “What happened to ‘bros before hos,’ mate?” Quinn asked, putting his emphasis on “hos.”

  “I…” Janus started.

  “You did not really say that,” Summer said.

  Quinn shook his head.

  “And not just any woman either,” Quinn said. “It had to be her?”

  Most of Quinn’s reporting life had been spent worrying about whether Summer would scoop him. Last year, her meddling had managed to get Quinn framed for her murder. Of all the women in the world, Janus had chosen the one Quinn couldn’t stand.

  “Wait a minute,” Janus said. “She’s really very cool once you get to know her.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Summer asked. “Once you get to know me?”

  Janus turned to her in disbelief.

  “You’re going to nitpick me here? Really?” he asked.

  “Well, I don’t see why you need to justify yourself to him of all people,” Summer said.

  “Will you drop it, honey?” Janus asked.

  “Yeah, ‘honey,’ why don’t you drop it?” Quinn added. “You betrayed all of us for her?”

  “I love her, mate, okay?” Janus said defiantly.

  “I just threw up a little in my mouth when you said that,” Quinn said.

  “Love doesn’t have to make sense, does it? We were together before we died, which I may have neglected to mention for obvious reasons. When she showed up here, I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You could have warned me,” Quinn said.

  “Sanheim made it very clear that if I said anything, he’d kill her,” Janus said. “And not easily or painlessly, either. He would have her drawn and quartered. I couldn’t take the risk.”

  Sanheim watched this exchange gleefully.

  “And because Janus helped, when this is over he gets to live,” Sanheim said.

  “Now why do I doubt that?” Quinn replied.

  “Oh, I’m a man of my word, whatever you may think,” Sanheim said. “He will be punished of course. He helped you on the battlefield.”

  “You never said I couldn’t,” Janus protested. “All I had to do was a little surveillance. I told you what I knew when I dreamed and detailed his battle plan as soon you brought me here. There weren’t any other conditions.”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Sanheim said. “I asked you to stay out of the way. I can overlook a little assistance here or there, but not actively keeping his army from fleeing the field. Perhaps a century or two away from your lover will teach you what it means to defy me.”

  “Fucking git,” Janus spat at him.

  Sanheim looked extremely pleased with himself, smiling at both Quinn and Janus. He glanced back out at the battlefield and Quinn followed his gaze.

  Quinn saw his remaining forces pulling back in an obvious retreat. Buzz was managing to keep their line together in an orderly fashion, but the enemy could clearly sense victory at hand. Many of Sanheim’s various brigades were now haphazardly charging forward, not bothering to maintain their own formations. Elyssa’s pack was furiously guarding Buzz and Parker’s retreat. Only Kate remained forward on the field, locked in her own private battle. Quinn watched in distress as he thought he saw Kate fall over on the ground and Carman loom above her, ready to strike.

  “You see, Quinn?” Sanheim said, and his eyes brimmed with confidence. “It’s over. Time to admit defeat.”

  Quinn watched as his troops seemed to be fighting a losing battle.

  “Okay,” Quinn said softly.

  Slowly, he lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head. There was a collective gasp from Janus and Summer as well as many in the crowd. Even Sanheim looked surprised. Whatever they had expected, it wasn’t this.

  “It’s over,” Quinn said, looking down. “We surrender.”

  *****

  Kate barely dodged the blow from Carman’s spear, ducking out of the way at the last moment.

  Her mind was a whirlwind of activity. She could see Quinn approaching Sanheim and knew Quinn’s plan was simply to delay him as long as possible to buy them more time. She thought it would work, knowing how much their nemesis loved to gloat.

  But she could also see Parker struggling against the mass of trowes and caorthannach tha
t seemed about to overrun his band of spiders. She watched as one of the tree-like creatures spat fire at a spider, engulfing him in flames.

  The sound of gunshots filled the air. She saw a man bayoneting a dusio through its chest, only to be struck from behind by a mortlat.

  Kate caught another blow from Carman on her shield, a grim realization in her head.

  We’re not going to last much longer, she thought.

  “Come on and fight me,” her opponent yelled. “I can see your heart isn’t really in it. Have you given up already?”

  Kate hadn’t given up, but she was distracted. She kept waiting for their reinforcements to arrive. How much time did Clinton and Carol need? She worried whether everything had gone according to plan or if something had happened to them.

  She saw Carman aim her spear, but couldn’t move out of the way fast enough. A jet of green fire hit her full force, sending her flying into the air. She had become more practiced at responding to it, however. Even as she flew backward, she regained her balance and landed on her feet. As Carman ran toward her, Kate let out a piercing scream aimed only at her opponent.

  The force of it knocked Carman back, but she concentrated and her mental shield appeared. Kate thought about ordering some soldiers to fire at her while the shield was up, but there were precious few men left around her and they were all otherwise engaged.

  Kate tried to keep screaming, but she was drained. As soon as she stopped, Carman rushed at her again, attempting to jam her spear into Kate’s gut. Kate caught it on her shield and counter-attacked, but Carman deflected the blow.

  Their fight was emblematic of the larger struggle. No matter how she tried, Kate couldn’t find an advantage. She had improved at sparring with Carman, but the two of them were evenly matched. By now, they had also learned each other’s tricks.

  In her mind, she heard Quinn confront Janus about spying on them. She thought Quinn was in danger of overacting.

  Carman tried to level another blast, but Kate brought up her shield in the nick of time. The spell rebounded off the shield, hitting a kelpie nearby.