Taken By Storm

by L. J. Vickery

  Finding tools had been another problem. But her industrious grandmother, followed tenaciously by the fat cat and armed with a flashlight, had discovered an old wooden storage locker. It fortuitously held a couple of pry bars and some rusted, but sturdy, garden trowels. That, with the spade Lenore remembered seeing beside the jail cell had been enough, and the excavation had begun.

  Lenore was quite sure that the house wouldn’t fall down with the loss of one rock. Being antique post and beam construction, a large supporting beam crossed over the line of boulders of which they would only be removing one, so that would technically keep the structure standing.

  The problem was prying out their puzzle piece without disturbing the rocks around it. They eventually chipped enough space to wedge one of the crowbars above the boulder they wanted to move, hopefully ensuring that nothing would tumble down around them. Lenore used the other iron implement as a lever to wiggle the large mass centimeters at a time away from the other rocks.

  Sweat poured down her face, and dirt now streaked her visage. She kept getting words of encouragement in her head from Anshar, but it was still back-breaking work. Every once in a while Lenore’s mother would take a turn, but Lenore was the only one who could make any real progress. It took patience and concentration, but finally the stone was far enough out into the basement that Lenore believed one huge tug would do the trick.

  “Stand back,” she told her mother and grandmother. The cat needed no warning. After using the dirt pile that had accumulated to “do his business,” he had retired to the opposite side of the room.

  “Here goes what’s left of the manicure.” Dagon’s going to big-time owe me a mani-pedi!

  Anshar must have heard that loud and clear, judging by the resounding snort.

  Lenore wrapped her stronger-than-lily-white hands around one rough protrusion on the side of the rock and, using every bit of her goddess-enhanced strength, pulled for all she was worth. The damn thing wouldn’t budge. Using the flashlight, she saw that the back edge of her rock was caught on a ridge sticking up from the one below. Fuck!

  It’s going to take a while longer. Lenore sent the message to Anshar. She knew she sounded discouraged, but dammit, she was tired. I have to chip away the front some more to get at another bit in back. She laughed in defeat. I don’t suppose you can conjure up a good earthquake?

  Hold on right there, sweetheart. You may have just hit on something. I’ll be right back.

  Anshar poofed back to the Blue Hills, finding Kulla and Ninurta deep in a hole.

  “Ninurta! Can I borrow you for a few minutes?” he called down. Anshar quickly explained to the god of excavation what was needed. Ninurta immediately got the picture, and followed him back to Plymouth.

  Anshar’s first concern was that the women would be safe.

  Lenore, I’m back with help. Now I need all of you go stand under a doorway. Ninurta is going to create a small tremor centered on the area where you’ve been digging and there could be some peripheral fall out, so move away. I don’t want you anywhere near the foundation.

  Doing it now, Lenore answered. Then a few moments later, she added, We’re encased in osmium, so we should be good.

  Smart girl! Anshar knew just where she was. Nice that Dagon’s jail cell was good for something other than incarceration and torture. He signaled for Ninurta to begin and kept his eyes glued to the PP out front.

  Anshar took note that the guard looked startled when the ground began to shake beneath his feet. A few people nearby also seemed a little disconcerted, but the majority of pedestrians a few blocks away seemed totally unaffected. The guard, having been well-tutored in the ways of the gods, had a suspicious look cross his face. Anshar was quick to act.

  “Time for some intervention.” Anshar didn’t wait for agreement from Absu or Ninurta but regained his body and sprinted across the street just in time to bump the human from behind and send him sprawling. He knew the man had been only seconds away from going in to check on his prisoners.

  “Sorry, man!” Anshar helped the PP off the ground and brushed him off, pretending that the shaking earth had caused the collision. “What the hell is that, anyway?”

  The man took one look at Anshar, backed up, and pushed a button on his belt.

  Shit! The guy knew his face. He should have decked him while he had the chance. Anshar opened up to every god who could hear him. We’ve got trouble, people. Hopefully, Shamash had his ears on at the gods’ microwave transceiver station. PP about to deploy in full force in Plymouth. I need all the help I can get! Lenore?

  I hear you, Anshar. Good. She had remained calm.

  What’s the status of that escape route?

  The stone’s out, she called ecstatically. And the dirt above it has pretty much caved in. I can see daylight.

  Then make your escape and make it quick. Your guard has called in the recruits.

  Anshar quickly overpowered the button pusher, bending him over and planting a knee in his face. To the passersby, Anshar hoped it would look like two buddies clowning around as he pasted a big, false smile on his face and laughed heartily. It was going to be interesting keeping this out of the public eye.

  Anshar was happy to see Lahar, Ishkur, Dumuzi, and Kulla arrive. With Absu and Ninurta already on hand, that represented a great contingent of immortals. He quickly made a decision.

  “As much as we’d like to rid ourselves of the PP who are on their way, our main concern is seeing the women safely out of the house and back to the compound.” Heads nodded all around.

  “Since I’m the only visible one,” gods, he hated to miss the action, “I’m going to go procure a car so I can drive the witches back to Quincy.” Again, nods.

  “When the PP show up, use your control over nature to slow them down.” Anshar sent a cautionary look to Absu. “But be careful. Any bloodshed here won’t be off the grid, and authorities asking questions is the last thing we need.”

  “It will be done cleanly,” Absu reluctantly agreed.

  Anshar took off at a run. There were always small used car dealerships dotting the outskirts of a busy town. He looked back and, as he expected, Absu had taken charge. He felt confident that they would kick some bad-guy ass…in a controlled way, of course.

  Anshar contacted Lenore. I’m going to get a car. Absu and the others are going to keep the Posse away. Just stay in the hole until I come back for you. Understand?

  Lenore wanted to comply, but even more, she wanted to be on the outside, helping Absu kick some PP butt. She turned to her mom and grandmother. She would hear about it, but Lenore wasn’t going to listen to a thing Anshar said.

  “I need to get out of here. Fast.” She ran back to the jail room and got a chair. “This place is going to be a battlefield within minutes.” Lenore positioned the chair and stood on it. With the shovel in her hand, she dug quickly in the loose, disturbed dirt. She was itching to get out and help the gods fighting at the front of the house.

  “I’m going to make sure things are safe. Then as soon as I give the word, bolt for the street and look for a really tall guy with a blond ponytail who’ll be pulling up with a car.”

  “We’ll know him, dear,” her grandmother said. “We’ve seen him in the bowl, remember?”

  Lenore didn’t stop moving dirt but acknowledged Addie-May with a grunt. She was ready to position herself between them and any threat, but there was no way she was staying underground like a sitting duck to do it. The thing was, Anshar didn’t have to know that. We’ll be here when you get back, she lied, hoping to keep him calm. Lenore cut off communication as she finally broke through.

  The goddess emerged cautiously from the hole and, crouching, made her way stealthily around the house. Her mouth hung open and she marveled watching the immortals at work.

  Absu had stationed the gods where they could do the most damage. Lahar, who had the uncanny ability to animate things, was already controlling the downed guard like a puppet, propping him up to interact with his budd
ies when they arrived.

  Ishkur was warming up with a light spring rain, ready to pour on a deluge at a moment’s notice. He was also capable of creating fireballs, but Lenore heard Absu put the nix on that. Too dangerous.

  As the god who had control over swamps, Dumuzi called water from the earth. He sat lazily on the front walkway, slowly bringing moisture up from below and bogging down the entire front and side yards. Lenore knew he would be happy to call on whatever rodents might be helpful too, as she also had found out he held dominion over animals.

  Ninurta would shake the earth, and Absu could control the salinity in all water sources, turning Ishkur’s rain, if necessary, into a brackish nightmare. Kulla could topple buildings, but Lenore hoped the gods would avoid that.

  Now all she had to do was wait. Hopefully, Anshar would be back with a car before the PP reinforcements arrived. If not, she’d enter the fray and kick some ass with the rest of the gods. She wasn’t afraid of Dagon’s goon-squad.

  ****

  Anshar wafted back to the Blue Hills and quickly grabbed a pocket full of money. He materialized at the first dealership he found in Plymouth and perused the lot. Good. An innocuous older model beater in light green. Nothing that would draw attention. A salesman approached.

  “That’s a nice little car,” he said. “But a big guy like you would be better off in a truck or an SUV—”

  “It’s for my mother,” Anshar interrupted with a growl. “How much?”

  The man named a price that was clearly outrageous and, as much as Anshar knew he should just buy it and run, he couldn’t help but haggle.

  “I’ll give you a thousand less. Cash. Right now.” Anshar pulled the wad from his pocket and started peeling off hundreds.

  “Don’t you want to drive it first?” The salesman saw the money and smiled. His days’ commission check must have suddenly looked better.

  “Two words. Lemon Law. If the car sucks, I’ll bring it back.” If it didn’t, the compound needed a reliable vehicle that had more than two wheels. Tess’s car was on its last legs.

  “If you’ll just come in, and do the paperwork, I’ll have it cleaned up. It should be ready for your mother in the morning.”

  “I’ll take it now. Just tell me where to sign.”

  “But…but you don’t have any plates or registration…”

  Anshar withdrew more of those hundred dollar bills. He could compel the guy, but it was more ethical—at least from the god’s standpoint—to try money first.

  “Five more of these for you if I can borrow your dealer plate until tomorrow.”

  The salesman gulped. Anshar could almost read his mind as he eyed the cash. He was figuring that, hell, if Anshar didn’t bring the plate back he could always report it as stolen. “You’ve got yourself a deal!”

  The guy stuck out his hand, and Anshar slapped the cash in it. The car was gassed, and he was out of the lot in five minutes.

  He arrived at Dagon’s headquarters to complete Armageddon. PP were mired in the yard up to their knees, at least those who were still on their feet. Others had trouble standing as the earth rocked beneath them.

  If that weren’t horrific enough, rats swarmed over all their struggling bodies, and it looked like…Could that be Lenore’s family cat that he’d heard about, cavorting around in the mud and chasing the rodents? Rain poured down in a violent cloudburst that only encompassed the one property, and it looked like the bricks from an adjacent building had toppled onto a group of bad guys who were now down for the duration.

  Emergency vehicles were everywhere. Police and firefighters had cordoned off the street, but stood around, clearly stupefied by the concentrated bedlam. Anshar, once he picked up his bottom jaw, had to chuckle. The gods had done a great job.

  He parked the car and ran around to the back of the property where nothing, thank the gods, had been touched by the chaos out front. He saw Lenore, bloodied and muddied, standing outside the hole, just like he’d told her not to. From the smile on her face, she’d clearly been in and enjoyed the fight.

  Can’t you do anything you’re told?

  She turned to him with a big grin. And miss all the action? She tilted her head to the front yard pandemonium. Not on your life. Then, much to Anshar’s surprise, she ran lightly across the yard and threw herself into his arms.

  Got a ride for me, big boy?

  Oh, I’ll give you a ride. He moved his hand down her hips to grip her ass. He hauled her close, his dick hardening instantly. He was headed for a soul-searing kiss when he heard a scrabbling noise at his feet.

  “Don’t let me disturb you.” Lenore’s grandmother’s face, wreathed in smiles, poked from the hole. She was watching them make out, and that was just…eww.

  Anshar dropped Lenore.

  The older woman looked back over her shoulder into the hole. “Could you stop pushing on my rump for a minute, dear? I’m trying to watch the children kiss!”

  Lenore laughed, and Anshar’s cheeks burned.

  “We’re done here.” He cleared his throat, then made a suggestion with which they would all concur. “We should really get going before anybody decides to check out the back of the property.”

  He lent a hand and lifted one woman, then another older version of his Lenore—a slightly graying red-head—out of the hole, and hurried them across the yard to where he’d parked the car. As he turned to help them in, he noticed that Lenore’s grandmother was not following orders. It must run in the family.

  “I have to find the cat,” she declared, heading out front toward the chaos. That’s the last thing Anshar needed. If there was an alert PP member, she could get grabbed.

  “No, I’ll do it!” Anshar quickly intervened and, moving forward swiftly, drew her back to the car with instructions for Lenore that came with a growl. You will all be in the vehicle when I return.

  Receiving a smirking nod from Lenore, he misted into the bedlam.

  Anshar got scratched up and down one arm and across the chest for his troubles as he plucked the cat from his rat-catching. Once the fat thing was secure under his arm, he misted back to the women and handed the ill-tempered feline to its owners. He made sure everyone was secure and took off, sending word back to Absu. I have the women safely away. You can wrap things up.

  Maybe in a while, came the reply, accompanied by what sounded suspiciously like a “yee-haw.” We haven’t had this much fun in ages.

  Anshar pointed the vehicle quickly toward Quincy. The cat refused to settle down and yowled from one window to the next, not caring that a daring rescue had just occurred. It was going to be a long ride home.

  Chapter Eighteen

  One minute Dagon was in Chicago. The next, he was in the Underworld smelling sulfur. He looked around but didn’t see his boss, Nergal, and wondered what was up. He knew things had been moving too slowly for the king, but trying to find the girl, Holly, in the city had proven more difficult than he had thought. Dagon was doing his best.

  He shrugged, suddenly not surprised at the turn of events. Considering Nergal’s lack of patience, he was deciding which way would bring him most quickly to the king’s throne room, when a demon of enormous proportions stormed from the passageway he was about to choose. Shit!

  “Nergal!” Dagon bellowed, his big body tensed as the mud-brown, slime dripping creature approached. Yellow eyes appraised him, and a bulbous tongue came out to lick fangs and lips already slick with spittle. Dagon backed up a few steps.

  “Nergal! I’m here.” Dagon spun around as a rock crunched behind him. Another of the large demons approached from the rear. Dagon went into a crouch. No weapons, no useful magic down in the Underworld. His ass was toast.

  A wry, knowing grin twisted Dagon’s mouth. This wasn’t an accident. This was punishment. Dagon was suddenly sure of that. When the beasts were through, Nergal would be present to address his digressions. Only one thing was certain right now—Dagon wasn’t going down without a fight.

  He launched himself backward
at the beast to his rear, whirling around to strike it in the rib cage with first one elbow, then another. When the being bent over and roared, Dagon wasted no time, grinding his thumbs into oozing eyeballs and rendering the hideous creature blind.

  Pain ripped through his back. The second demon had sliced his clothing and skin with the talons of its large, meaty paws. He spun away and was able to land a vicious kick at the creature’s leg, but instead of the solid connection that Dagon expected, his foot sank into a mire of viscous flesh. He tried to yank it free, but his opponent reacted too quickly.

  With a wet roar, the monster grabbed Dagon by the ankle and tossed him away, slamming his body hard against a smoking rock wall. Heat seared the god’s already-lacerated back, and he fought down a scream. He attempted to move but found his legs unable to function fast enough for escape. Both demons were within feet of his prone body.

  Dagon’s breath came quickly. This was it. He’d endured near-death evisceration and torment before, and he would endure now, but it was never good. He could only watch with abject fascination as one dagger-like claw plunged into his chest. His flesh twisted in agony. He tried to keep his horror at bay while his arms and legs were sliced open. Fangs tore at his throat, and he felt every damned inch of their dental work.

  The demons delighted in their torment, advancing, retreating, and scoring his mutilated body repeatedly, only to pull back before dealing a death blow.

  Bloodied and mutilated, Dagon refused to beg. He bottled up the well of agony deep within and made no sound. Silent tears coursed down his face, then blessedly, he ceased to feel at all. His final thought before darkness overtook him? Nergal was such an asshole.

  ****

  Dagon awoke slowly. He was aware of hard-packed dirt and rock beneath him, and the smell of fires burning all around. Conscious thought kicked in with a vengeance. He was in the Underworld. And he’d just been beaten by demons. Without opening his eyes, he took stock of his body. No pain. Not a twinge. Either he was unable to feel, or he was in the presence of Nergal who had healed him while he slept. Dagon shifted slightly.