by Sam Ferguson
“Hold up,” Marcus said as he put a hand on my chest. I flicked Marcus’ hand away like a fly and moved in to grab the sniveling snob by the front of his Ralph Lauren polo shirt and pulled him in close.
“The next time Susan’s in danger, you had best get your sorry arse out and fight to find her, you understand me?”
“Uh-huh!” Carter said with a quick nod of his head. “I swear it.”
I then yanked him around and forced him to look at the headless monsters in the room. “You see that?” I asked. “I killed them myself. That’s what Susan deserves, someone who would jump into hell to save her, not some sniveling idiot who hides behind his Armani suits and fake friends.” I shoved him into the room and he landed just short of the harbinger wolf’s body. He shrieked and tried to get up, but slipped in the pool of blood that had accumulated around the body. Carter turned and gagged.
I stepped in and picked him back up. “You listen good,” I whispered in his ear. “If you ever let them down, I will come for you, and I will find you, and there won’t be enough money in the world to stop me from bringing hell to your door and ripping you apart. You understand?”
Carter nodded and then groaned and looked down. I followed his gaze and saw that he had wet himself. I released him, letting him fall back into the puddle of blood.
I left the cabin and walked into the hall just as Indyrith approached. The tall elf had blood streaking his clothes, and a scimitar hung loose at his hip.
“My apologies,” Indyrith offered. “I was caught in an ambush.”
I noticed the slice on his shoulder and nodded. “I understand,” I said quickly. “What do we do now?” I asked. I had meant what we were going to do about keeping Susan and Tommy safe, but Indyrith must have been thinking about something else, because his answer caught me off guard.
“I will change their memories,” he said. “There is nothing I can do for the loss of life, but I could make it so that the survivors believe that the ship hit something and began to take on water. It is still tragic, but the memory of a sinking ship is better than this.” The tall elf made a gesture to the cabin.
“Wait, so Susan won’t even remember that I was here, or what I did?” I asked.
Indyrith shook his head. “No. And would you want her to? Such memories would only haunt her for the rest of her life. They will give your son nightmares as well. Would you wish that upon them just so that you could take comfort knowing that they would remember your heroism?”
I sighed and shook my head. “No,” I said quickly. “If you can take the pain away, then you should do that.”
I then turned and looked at Carter, who was still shivering and staring at me. “Can you leave his memory intact?” I asked.
Indyrith arched a brow. “You would have this man tortured by nightmares?”
“I would have him remember my warning,” I said coldly.
Indyrith shook his head. “Such wanton carelessness would only allow for him to break the spell I will use to help your wife and son.”
“Not to mention call the attention of Section Four,” Dan put in.
I groaned and kicked at the floor. “Fine,” I said.
I walked back into the cabin and held a hand out for Carter. I put on a smile as best I could. The man looked to my hand, and then up to my eyes as if expecting me to hurt him again. When I stood still and held my hand out for him patiently, he finally took it. I pulled him up and smiled. “My whole world is in that room,” I said as I thumbed to the bathroom where Susan was still crying. “You may forget what really happened here tonight, but you had better remember to treat them right, for as long as you live.”
“I-I-I will,” Carter stammered.
I nodded. “Good.” Then, despite my knowing that I was crossing the line. I punched the worthless sack once more across the jaw, laying him out cold atop the harbinger wolf’s body.
“Mills!” Dan shouted angrily.
“What?” I asked as I left the room. “It’s not like he’s going to remember anyway.”
“I will work with the other team members to clean up the ship,” Indyrith told Dan. The elf king then turned to me and said, “You need to work on your temper.”
“Bite me, elf,” is all I said as I pushed past and made my way back to where a rope ladder was hanging from the chinook.
CHAPTER 17
The flight back was uneventful, and quiet. Even Flint kept his mouth shut when I handed him back his 1911. The whirring rotors were the only sound as we crossed back over ocean and desert. The refueling stop was short, and we were back in the hangar by nine-thirty. Poor Jeremy was still lying unconscious in his own doorway.
Dan and Marcus saw to him, moving him to his bed and staging things a bit so that perhaps the man wouldn’t call the cops when he finally woke. Apparently Jeremy had a drinking problem, so they poured a bit of whiskey on him, stuck a mostly empty bottle in his hands and tossed his rifle on the floor with a couple of extra, spent shells. It seemed a bit harsh to let the man think he had gone mad in a drunken stupor, but compared to the people who had lost their lives on the cruise ship, it was as merciful as it could be.
Marcus patched the fence where he had cut it and Mack went to work feeding the cameras with looped footage that would show none of our activities, while of course being edited just enough to show Jeremy ripping his door open and shooting out at the air field.
By the time we got back to the safe house, Katya had the news playing on the TV. Reports of an engine malfunction and a breach in the ship’s hull were making the rounds on all the major networks. There were many fatalities, as well as several reported missing.
“Looks like Indyrith did a good job on clean up,” Flint commented dryly. “I’m gonna catch some sleep.”
Katya turned and looked at me for a moment. Whatever she was thinking, she kept her mouth silent. She went back to watching the reports. Dan moved to stand beside her.
“No mention of monsters at all?” he asked.
“Not yet. Of course, I’ll have to check the National Enquirer for the next few weeks, but it looks like the event is clean.” She turned back to me again and looked at my leg. “You’re healed?”
I nodded. “Leg’s good,” I said flatly. I wasn’t really in the mood for talking, so I walked back to my bed chamber and went straight to my cot. Mack followed me a few minutes later and started to grab the wires from the machine to hook them onto me, but I refused.
“It doesn’t work anyway, just leave it off,” I said.
“I can at least monitor your brain activity,” Mack said. “I just thought…”
“Mack, I could use some alone time.”
Mack nodded. “Yeah. I get it.” He set the wires down and sighed. “I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t want it to mess with your head.”
I turned over and faced the far wall. I didn’t want to hear anything more about Carter. I didn’t want to know exactly how quickly after I had left he had finally wormed his way into Susan’s life. I didn’t want to know the details of their dates. Nothing. I just wanted to be left alone.
Mack exited the room and I raged internally about the injustice of it all. It had been less than a year since that dreadful day when I had left for Dallas. As far as I was concerned, the ink wasn’t even dry on the divorce documents yet, and Susan was already happy to let Carter right in and take my place. I had been erased from her life. Tommy would likely forget me entirely in a couple more years as well. Carter, or some other prick just like him, would eventually replace me in Tommy’s mind. Meanwhile, I was out fighting monsters to keep the world safe, and yet was known only for the alleged murder of my father.
I looked at my watch and laughed in disgust. It was ten-thirty on a sunny Tuesday morning.
Tuesdays suck.
*****
I spent the next several hours trying to quiet my mind enough to go back to sleep, but it didn’t work. After the fortieth time of looking at my watch, I gave up and left the room. I foun
d the others in a mess hall of sorts, ripping into M.R.E. packages and chewing on things that did not look like they were meant for human consumption. Marcus tossed me one. I caught it and looked down at the words stamped into the box. Supposedly, I had just been given spaghetti with meatballs.
“Water is in the crate over there,” Marcus said as he pointed to a large wooden crate with the lid propped up beside it. The food looked like crap, so I went for the water. I popped open a can and guzzled it down. I grabbed a second and then went to sit with the others.
“You want the good news, or the bad news?” Dan asked as I tore into my package of “spaghetti.”
“Hit me with both,” I said. There wasn’t much that seemed worse than discovering my family had already moved on without me. I knew logically it made sense. I tried to tell myself that the older Tommy got, the harder it would be for Susan to find someone new. I had lived through enough of that with my own mother. She’d date a guy for a couple weeks, and then they would meet me and suddenly they dropped off the face of the earth. Tommy was still in the cute toddler phase, and stood a better chance of cutting through a suitor’s reluctance to taking on another man’s child… but it would still be hard. Still, the idea that they had moved on so blindingly fast was incomprehensible. I found myself wondering whether the whole thing had been a sham. Maybe Carter had always been lurking around, poking and prodding to test whether he could horn his way in.
“You all right there?” Mack asked.
It was then that I realized I was still fumbling with the M.R.E. package. “Distracted,” I said as I dropped the food. “Just thinking.”
Mack nodded knowingly and pulled a knife from his pocket. “Here, I’ll grab it, these can be a pain to open.” He took the M.R.E. and began slicing it open for me while Dan continued.
“The good news is Katya got ahold of her contact and found out that the engine is still here in the states. Apparently, Rathison is planning to move it to Argentina. He’s bought himself a veritable fortress down there and has been preparing it for some time now. The Argentine government is more than a little excited to host the launch, so they have rolled out the red carpet for him, figuring this event will put them in a better position on the world stage.”
“The bad news?” I asked as I took the opened package from Mack and sniffed at the curiously orangey-red mush inside.
“Mix it with the water,” Mack said. “And then just chew and swallow. Don’t think about it too much.”
Dan cleared his throat and Mack stopped talking. “The bad news is we have two days until Rathison moves the engine. Tomorrow he is loading it at the docks, and then he’s off to Argentina. So, if we don’t catch him now, then we’ll have to mobilize our team in Brazil to try and intercept while it’s still in international waters.”
“But I thought Rathison was holding a gala next week?
Dan nodded. “He is, but the engine will be gone by then,” Dan clarified.
“So we’re back to storming the mansion then?” I asked.
Dan nodded. “I know you have been through a lot, but can you clear your head enough to get to Rathison tonight?”
I knew what he meant. He was asking whether I could target Rathison through the dream world. The poor sod didn’t know that I had been bluffing. The old man had told me it was possible, but he hadn’t taught me how to initiate my dreams in a practical method. The best I could do was try. “I’ll give it a shot,” I said.
“Good. The three Vikings are on their way down to us now,” Dan said. “They’ll be here to make sure no drakkul sneak in through unauthorized portals.”
I used the small fork provided to shovel some of the mush into my mouth after I mixed it with a bit of water. It tasted vaguely of meat mixed with tomato paste and noodles, but I wouldn’t call it spaghetti. Still, my body was tired and hungry, so I managed to put the whole thing away in a couple of minutes and then washed it down with the rest of my water.
“So, um, how’d you fix your leg?” Mack asked when I finished.
I shrugged. “Honestly, no freaking clue,” I answered. “I’m as new to the dream walking thing as you are. I don’t know if I could do that again, or even if I am the one who did it.”
“Meaning what, exactly?” Marcus cut in. “I’m the one who patched you up, so I know how extensive the damage was.”
I shrugged again. “Meaning that there is a council of five other dream walkers that I met. They’re the ones who warned me about the cruise ship. Anyway, they said that in times of great need, they would lend me their strength. Best I can figure is that one of them healed my leg.”
“Five others?” Dan echoed. “Where are they? Can they help you with Rathison?”
“They’re dead,” I said bluntly. “They are dream walkers from the past. They said they form a council to help the living dream walker.”
“And they healed your leg and then gave you super powers so you could leap out of the helicopter without splatting on the ship’s deck like an egg, is that it?” Flint said.
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
“So, do you still have your extra strength?” Dan asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think it was just temporary, while I needed it. I feel pretty normal now.”
“Well, whatever the hell it was, I’m glad you had it,” Dan said. “Indyrith said they were in a bad way, but you killed four werewolves and a harbinger wolf by yourself, which gave Marcus and I enough time to fast rope down and get into the mix as well.”
“Where is he now?” I asked. “I was sure the news would have had a field day with an elf king and his two daughters.”
“One daughter,” Dan corrected. “Only one survived.”
That took a bit of the wind out of my sails. I had been under the impression that all of them had survived. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Dan nodded soberly. “Let’s just say that Indyrith can choose to whom he shows his true form. To everyone else out there, he has a kind of hypnosis, or illusion spell if you will, that tricks them into seeing just an average, every day human. He’s in California now, waiting for the three Vikings.”
“Too bad they don’t have an illusion spell,” Mack cut in. “Everywhere they go they look, act, and smell like Vikings. It gets tiring trying to convince people in diners and gas stations that they’re performers in costume. You know most people just think we’re all crazy.”
“We are crazy,” I said as I leaned back and folded my arms. “We’re all certifiably crazy. Stealing helicopters from old friends, then letting them think they were on a bender and went over the edge, or hanging from said helicopter and sniping werewolves in little motor boats and charging in with swords. It’s stupid. We don’t even get paid well enough to make the skulking in the shadows worth it. I mean, what could you make as a security specialist, Dan? Or, Katya, what kind of money could you make with your background? Shoot, Mack could probably just create money by hacking into any bank he pleases, and Marcus should be a doctor somewhere. Instead, we’re hunting monsters and then not even taking credit for it.” I tapped my foot under the table and looked down at my now eaten M.R.E. and shook my head.
There was silence for several moments. Everyone just sat and chewed their food or looked at the table. It was Katya who broke the quiet first.
“I lost my sister, thirteen years ago,” she said. “I was assigned to a special unit that investigated paranormal activity. I got too close once, and a harbinger wolf hunted down my sister in retaliation. I joined with the Guardians after that.”
I looked at her and saw her wipe a single tear from her left eye.
Dan went next. “My wife left me just a few years into my job with the FBI. I guess I wasn’t home enough for her. Our neighbor three doors down was,” he said. “We had two kids. A boy and a girl. They have kids of their own now, and I’m not the one they invite to birthdays or parties. Anyway, a few years before retirement I became involved with a fellow agent. We talked about getting ma
rried after we retired and living in Panama or Belize. We were on a routine training op. The area was reported to be clear of all civilians. Well, I guess no one had told the resident group of vampires that we wanted to be alone, so they came out and hit us hard. I was on over watch, just like last night. I watched helplessly as every vampire I shot got right back up and kept coming at the assault team on the ground. I can still hear her, calling my name as they closed in on her.”
“I pissed off the wrong hacker,” Mack said. “I had been dueling with this punk kid for months. We were always trying to one up the other. Pushing boundaries or stealing jobs, that sort of thing. Anyway, you know how it is, people talk big when they hide behind a computer screen and keyboard. So, we got to trash talking one day and I guess I pushed him too hard. Turned out he wasn’t some punk kid. He was a borelian. My whole house was leveled by a gang of minotaurs. And, being the stereotypical computer warrior, I was living in my parents’ basement at the time. They didn’t survive.”
“I was married once too,” Flint said.
Everyone turned and stared at the large man.
“Yes, special forces guys have wives too,” Flint said defensively. “Anyway, I kept my mouth shut after my incident in the Middle East. Briggs was working with me and getting me into Section Four. What I didn’t know, was that the monster I took down in the desert was the leader of a small pack. They’re not just wolves, you know, they have brains, so they researched me. They found my wife and son. Briggs knew about it, but instead of getting my family into protection, he chose to use them as bait. I was entirely left in the dark about the danger to my family. The night that the monsters attacked, I was four hundred miles away, investigating a missing person’s case that we suspected to be the work of a vampire. Briggs’ strategy fell apart pretty quick when seven werewolves attacked my home, accompanied by three harbinger wolves.” Flint picked at a spot on the table with his thumbnail and then reached into a small pouch and pulled out a single bullet. The casing had two hash marks drawn on it in red. “This bullet is for Briggs. One day, when the world no longer needs monsters like him to fight the monsters that prey upon the innocent, I’m going to give this to him, right in the back of his thick skull.”