by Michael Todd
Angie threw her head back and cackled, finding the demon’s fear of Katie to be absolutely hilarious. She almost wished she had a demon inside her that repelled asshole guys and bad friends. She would have been happy long before she met Katie. Then again, she would also be Damned, which she had learned would most likely have resulted in her death, possibly even at Katie’s hands.
She put her feet up on the coffee table and threw some popcorn into her mouth. This was better than going to the movies. She couldn’t believe that she was the assistant to the demon/angel who walked the Earth kicking ass, eating donuts, and taking names. Oh, she knew Katie was a badass, especially after the New York incident, but this was beyond badass. She had just cemented herself as not just the hero of New York, but a hero across the world, too. Angie shook her head and settled down to watch the rest. The demon was still alive, and there were hundreds of smaller ones waiting in the wings. She had her work cut out for her, but if Angie had learned anything about Katie and her demon, it was that they didn’t give up. With those wings, she was becoming unstoppable.
“Now all they have to figure out is how to keep the reporters alive so I don’t miss a minute of this fight,” Angie muttered. “They are dropping like fucking flies.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katie ran full speed at the beast writhing on the ground and kicked her sword further into his head. The demon screamed in agony as thick black blood flooded the ground. The special ops guys had stopped shooting, afraid they would accidentally hit Katie. She wiped her hand on her pants, then walked over to place one foot on the beast’s forehead and grab the sword with both hands. She pulled the blade from the demon’s skull, wiped it off, and sheathed it on her back. She pulled out Harry and kissed the barrel before pressing it against the demon’s skull.
“Later, asshole,” she hissed, pulling the trigger.
The bullet surged through the demon’s brain and out the back of his neck. The beast growled one more time before bursting into dust. Katie waved her hand in front of her, trying to keep the dust from her mouth, and stuck Harry back into his holster. She backed up to Brock and nodded, both of them staring at the huge pile of grit.
“Pretty good work, huh?”
Brock shook his head. “Your shoe is untied.”
Katie looked down at her bloodied boots and laughed. She tied her boot and stood back up, adjusting the belt on her waist. She removed the staff from the strap and unscrewed the two pieces before cracking her shoulder back into place. Calvin walked through the dust, putting his pistol back in its holster. He stood silently next to her, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms.
Katie smirked. “Nice of you to finally show up.”
“I figured he was pretty small, so you could handle him on your own,” he told her.
“Oh, yeah, piece of cake.”
They both looked at the rips in her clothing and the blood dripping off her boots. She shrugged. Calvin reached back and pulled out his sword, holding it up in front of himself.
He glanced at her and then straight ahead again. “So, you ready to do this?”
Katie frowned, her attention on the tapering battle. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so. Just some little guys at this point. I’d love to be done and back on the plane heading home.”
Calvin looked at the group of soldiers talking wildly about what they had just seen. “Hey, it’s Brock.”
Katie nodded. “Yeah. I saw him when I was hanging out on the demon’s shoulder.”
“Must be nice to just take a break in the middle of fighting,” Calvin teased.
“Yeah, you know, I didn’t want to exhaust myself.”
“Oh, and by the way, those are some badass wings. The tabloids in New York were actually right for once. There was a winged woman flying around the city.”
“Yeah, figured we’d throw ‘em a bone.”
Calvin started chuckling and reached down, holding his stomach as it evolved into a full-on belly laugh. Katie looked over at him, confused and unsure whether he had lost his mind or he was thinking of something way too funny.
“What?”
“I just... I just...” Calvin wiped the tears from his eyes and shook his head. “Oh, God. I was just thinking about how excited Pandora probably was for those wings.”
I will kill him, Pandora snarled.
“Oh, yeah, she’s about as thrilled as I was when I became infected.”
“That’s just fucking priceless.” Calvin kept laughing. “Don’t worry, Pandora, I’m sure they’ll burst into flames at some point.”
Katie smirked and gave Calvin the middle finger. “That was from Pandora.”
Brock looked at his guys, who were standing around talking excitedly about Katie and her wings as they reloaded. As cool as it was, they needed to get their heads back in the game. There were still a shitload of demons inside, too afraid to step outside of the cathedral, not to mention the portals below that were still open and possibly readying another monster of a beast to send through.
After he finished reloading, he clapped to get the team’s attention. “All right, guys, settle down. That was badass, I know, but bottle it up. We have to focus. We are going to play support to Calvin and Katie in there. Keep your eyes open, and stay alert. Don’t let that victory distract you. That’s how people die. Don’t get too cocky, either. Take them down like we were doing when we first got here. Is everyone ready to kick some fucking demon ass?”
“Oohrah,” the soldiers yelled.
The team followed Calvin and Katie as they entered the church. For the first few moments nothing got through the two of them, but as the demons started to get thicker, the troops were handling demons left and right. Brock ran to the right and took down four before his pistol ran empty. They were low on supplies, so he holstered it and pulled out his knife, figuring he would save the bullets in case everything went absolutely nuts.
All across the nave the soldiers fought hard, blasting their rounds into the demons’ skulls. Puffs of dust exploded, leaving a cloud of grit hovering over the cathedral’s floor. Brock wiped his forehead and pushed forward, feeling the heat from the portals intensifying. They had to be close to the entrance to the underground, which he knew was where they were ultimately headed.
A demon sprinted past Calvin and Katie as they fought two others. It spotted Brock pulling his knife across a demon’s throat and snarled loudly. Brock turned as the demon sprinted forward, his eyes opening wide as the demon pushed so close he could smell its rank breath. The demon stopped in its tracks, its face frozen in shock. Brock watched curiously as the tip of a knife poked out of its face and moved up, splitting its head in two.
Brock looked up at Katie and nodded, trying to catch his breath. “Thanks.”
Katie smirked. She twirled her staffs and the blades shot out, the sound of scraping metal echoing through the building. Brock chuckled nervously as he pulled his pistol and shot an incoming demon between the eyes. He shook his head, not believing how badass and how completely smoking hot Katie was. He had known it the first time he saw her talking to Korbin.
Hey, lover boy, you gonna kill the demon behind you or are you just going to go down in a blaze of lust and boners?
“Huh?” Brock turned around just in time to thrust his knife forward and stab a demon in the gut. He pulled the knife back out and slid the blade across the demon’s throat, and it gurgled and groaned before disintegrating. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts straight.
If only Katie bashing skulls in wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
Across the floor one of Brock’s teammates battled two demons at once, getting shots off but none that could actually damage the demon. He grabbed a bible from a pew and held it up as the demon thrust its claws through the pages. He grimaced and let go, watching the demon try to flick the bible off his hand like a cat with tape stuck to its paws. The soldier shook his head and pulled his knife back, stabbing it into the demon’s forehead and pulling it out before
the demon dropped to the ground. He then swung around, feeling the hot breath of the other demon creeping up behind him. The blade sliced across the demon’s neck, but the demon’s claws also sliced the soldier’s chest. He stumbled back, grabbing the burning flesh, and fell into Brock’s arms.
“Let me see, let me see,” he exclaimed, pulling up the soldier’s shirt. “Just a flesh wound. You got this. Can you keep going?”
“Hell, yeah.” The soldier winced, taking Brock’s hand and getting back to his feet. “That was a close one.”
“Fuck yeah, it was.” Brock chuckled as he watched Katie and Calvin for a moment.
Katie side-kicked a demon into about six others, and all of them collapsed into a pile on the floor. She smirked and pulled out Tom, pressing it against the demon’s stomach and pulling the trigger. The bullet went through three of them, and the other two tried to get out from under. Slowly Katie pulled the sword from her back and held it high over her head, smiling as she swung the blade through all five of the demon’s necks with one fluid motion. Their heads bounced across the floor before turning to dust.
Katie turned around and winked at Brock and the others who were staring at her open-mouthed. Calvin shot a demon between the eyes and glanced back, laughing at Katie’s new fan club. Everywhere he turned men were falling all over the place for her, but then again, they always kind of had—only she hadn’t noticed before. Calvin was happy for Katie. It was about time she started to realize just how badass she really was.
She looked at Calvin, grabbing a knife from her belt and throwing it at him. He closed his eyes and ducked to the right, reopening them to find a demon stuck to the wall through the throat by the knife. He breathed heavily and shook his head.
“Don’t fucking do shit like that. You almost killed me.”
Katie shrugged. “I knew you would duck.”
“And what if you were wrong?”
“Then you would have died either way. My way would have been a lot less painful, and I would have felt terrible about it.”
Calvin laughed. “Oh yeah, heaven forbid I get in the way of your conscience.”
Damn straight! Pandora cackled.
Inside Calvin, Marty was working to keep Calvin’s stamina going. I told you we should have stopped for tacos.
In which vehicle, the stealth plane or the chopper?
Either would have been fine. I’m not picky.
Right. And I’m sure they would have jumped to do that for me.
Hey, they got the donuts.
Pandora is a special breed, and can take down every demon in this place by herself. When you start pumping out powers like that, I will make a special request for a plane for our tacos. Until that day, deal with it.
You are feisty today.
Calvin rolled his eyes and chased another demon. He jumped and landed on its back, pinning it to the floor. He pulled out his pistol and pressed it to the demon’s head, pulling the trigger. He wiped his forehead and took off after Katie, who was making her way farther into the edifice.
Brock and his team fell in behind Katie and Calvin, cleaning up any demons who happened to get by them. They tore through the demons, using everything they had to clear their way. Katie turned around as Brock slammed a demon up against the chapel wall by the neck, squeezing hard as he stabbed him over and over, the final blow going to the temple. She nodded.
“Welcome to the pack, boys.” Katie laughed. “There’s nothing like knowing you’re doing a good job.”
“Hell, yeah,” one of the guys cheered.
They went through the entire cathedral together, doing their best to check every nook and cranny of the place. They found several demons hiding in the confessionals, which Katie and Pandora found more than amusing.
Pandora cleared Katie’s throat and spoke in a soft southern accent. Mah goodness, Fathah, please fergive me, for Ah have sinned. Ah have been in hell for seven hundred years, and now that Ah’ve had a taste of freedom, Ah wanna go crazy and kill some fuckin’ bastards.
Katie snorted as she slammed the blade of her staff into the face of a demon hiding behind a pillar. The burning in her chest was lessening, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. The beasts were hiding all over, and Katie had no idea what would be waiting to come through the portal. She wasn’t able to sense those demons yet, but the heat blowing through the place let her know that the portals were still active.
Katie took the lead as they headed down the long passage toward the old wooden door at the back. It was the entry to the catacombs under the cathedral, and the place where the demons were coming through the portals. The whole pack was behind her, slamming open the doors along the way, ramming their swords, knives, and any other sharp objects they could find through the demon’s skulls. Brock opened the chambers to one of the robing rooms and slowly walked inside. The windows were open, blowing cool air through the room.
He looked over at the curtains hanging on the windows and watched as they flapped wildly with the breeze. Just then, a demon jumped down from the rafters above, knocking Brock to the floor. The knife flew out of his hand, and he struggled to flip over on his stomach and started crawling toward the knife. The demon leapt to its feet and chased him, running its sharp claws all the way down his back. He screamed in agony and turned over, trying to get his pistol out of his holster.
As the demon got closer, its sharp fangs glistened with saliva. Its claws dripped with Brock’s blood, and it readied itself to pounce. Brock took a deep breath and tugged harder on the gun, but the latch over the handle was jammed shut. He shook his head, not wanting to go down like that, when a shot rang out and the demon’s head exploded right in front of him. As the pieces of meat and brain splashed to the ground, Brock wiped the thick gooey blood from his eyes and spit some out of his mouth, staring up at a smirking Calvin.
“Sorry about the brain shower. Figured you could use some help.”
Brock chuckled and reached up to take Calvin’s hand to get to his feet. He winced at the pain in his back and Calvin turned him around, grimacing at the torn flesh. He watched as the skin began to slowly heal, and nodded.
“Looks like your demon’s got your back, literally.”
Thank you.
Just keep moving. I’ll take care of this as best I can, she told him.
“These fuckers are going down.” Brock chuckled, pulling up his shirt to wipe off his face.
Calvin laughed. “Hell, yeah, they are.”
They left the room and caught up to the others. Katie slowly opened the door, pulling back as a strong hot wind blew into the hallway.
She fanned herself with her hand and laughed. “Well, boys, looks like we are going to be working in a sauna today.”
The guys chuckled and followed as Katie led them down the dark winding staircase. They looked up and down the walls, their eyes lighting the way. Brock pulled his flashlight out of his belt and flicked it on, shuddering at the sight of human skulls stacked on top of each other, lining the catacombs’ walls.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs Katie swung her staff, taking out a demon running straight for her. They all entered the hallway scanning in both directions. Demons were creeping down the hall, and there wasn’t much room to work. Katie sighed and nodded to Calvin, taking off at a run toward the pack to the right. She ran up and over the curved ceiling of the hall, taking off several heads with practiced swings of her staff’s blades.
Calvin knelt and blasted the group, taking down the rest. Katie turned, ready to help the soldiers, but they had it all under control. Brock, a demon’s head in his hand, looked up at Katie and smiled broadly as it burst into dust. She couldn’t help but laugh at that, and was seriously impressed by how well the soldiers were handling everything. She didn’t feel like the lone hero saving the day with them there, which was nice. She liked being part of a team again.
Calvin holstered his gun and walked over to Katie, looking up at the ceiling. “You really gotta teach my demon how to d
o some of this antigravity shit you do. Seriously, it’s fucking badass.”
Katie grinned. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure this has more to do with my own skills than the demon part of me.”
“The angel is shining through. That can’t make Pandora too happy.”
“It doesn’t.” She chuckled as they headed farther down the halls.
“You know, I am supposed to be on vacation right now. I want this extra time tacked onto the end, I got a woman at home waiting for some special time with me.”
Katie raised her eyebrow. “Now is when you think of this shit?”
Calvin grinned. “When else? I always seem to be covered in bodily fluids or up to my armpits in demons. I gotta get my thinking done when it comes to me.”
“Truth,” Brock yelled.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Katie tapped the blade of her staff against the skulls as she walked the tunnels, following the feeling in her chest to the portals. The group was quiet, only the crunching of their feet making any sound. It had been several minutes since they had seen even a single demon, much less found a portal. They were starting to think the demons had retreated, but Katie knew better than that. They were putting a hurting on them, but it wasn’t that bad. They would continue to fight, especially if they had any more of those monster demons—which she did not look forward to fighting in such a small space.
Stop, Pandora called.
Katie stopped in her tracks and put her fist in the air. Everyone slowed down, raising their weapons in front of them to be ready for whatever was coming. Katie tilted her head and scanned the darkness, still not seeing anything.