"You think we ought to go up the wall and find a crack to get through on the third floor?" Morton asked as we studied the building we were about to break into.
"Probably better that way than going through the front door, don't you think?"
He and I stood less than half a block away, staring at the targeted third floor of the jail. "Come on, we have work to do." I turned to ice and adhered myself to the sidewalk, before moving faster along it than any normal ice could ever move.
With Morton right behind me, we attached ourselves to the outside wall of the jail and began sliding upward. Along the way, I felt plenty of cracks in the outside stone wall that we could exploit to get in.
Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
Parke
"Since we have permission to question her, we have to follow procedure," Lou insisted as we filled out forms to receive our visitor badges. "Trey's connections will get the rest of you in," he added.
This is taking too long, Yosuke informed me. I'd never gotten mindspeak from him before, and it surprised me.
I don't know what else we can do about it, I told him. I doubt she's going anywhere.
Yosuke didn't show his impatience outwardly; he wore a stoic expression as we signed the visitors log and then followed Lou through a door that opened with his key card.
"She'll be brought down to the visitor's lounge," Lou said. "We'll stay inside; I'll post the guards outside the door. Normally, they're in the room, but that regulation has been waived this time."
"I appreciate what you've done for us," Trey said.
"It's no problem, especially if we can get information we didn't have before."
Trey, Yosuke's getting antsy, I sent.
This will take time—we can't rush through this or we'll never get this kind of cooperation again.
I understand that—just passing along the message.
Lou didn't hasten his footsteps as he led us toward a visitor's lounge. Two guards nodded to him as he opened the door and allowed us inside.
Clean. Clinical. Just like any other facility one might visit inside a jail.
"They'll be here in a few minutes," Lou indicated chairs at a table. "If you want water, coffee or soda, I can have that brought in."
"Nothing for now," Trey waved away the offer. Yosuke remained standing; Trey and I took seats to wait for Lilith Sloane.
Lilith Sloane
I wasn't telling these bastards anything. I wasn't the one who shot the receptionist and the doctor. Jinx the moron had. My attorney confirmed my decision not to answer questions when he arrived earlier in the day.
Arraignment tomorrow, he'd said after sitting through several hours of questioning.
Arraignment. A foreign-sounding word to me. They'd probably railroad me into jail time, just like they'd done to Doyle.
Without my phone, I couldn't do a video visit with Doyle, either, although I'd used up all my allotted time with him for the month.
Doyle didn't know anything about what Jinx and I did; I deliberately kept that from him in case somebody made a connection and asked him questions.
Besides, my lawyer suggested that with my cooperation later on, the whole thing could be pinned on Jinx and I'd get off with little or no jail time, maybe.
"Lilith Sloane, you're being called down for questioning," a guard knocked on my door.
"Go to hell. I'm not in the mood," I yelled at him.
"You're going anyway. You can either walk along and behave yourself, or we can drag you. Your choice."
"Where's my lawyer? I want him present before anybody asks me anything."
"We've left a message; he's not returning our calls. Warden says all you have to do is refuse to answer the questions from these guys and you'll be back here before you know it."
"Good. Why can't you tell them I refuse?"
"Has to come from you."
"Fine." I rose from the bed affixed to the wall and stood at the center of my cell, waiting for the guards to enter.
And that's when a guard screamed and the wall of my cell caved inward.
Parke
The whole building shook, accompanied by a loud boom. Lou shouted; Yosuke transported all of us to the third floor of the jail, where two familiar ice demons held Lilith Sloane between them.
"Stop," Trey shouted compulsion at all of them.
Compulsion is dicey with demons, and Trey was too far away for compulsion to be completely effective. Dalton King's ice demon laughed at him.
Without realizing it, my rock demon jumped forward and roared, throwing a punch at Morton, who was closest to me. His ice shattered. Dalton, realizing who and what I was, jerked Lilith Sloane against him while she screamed, and then leapt through the back wall of her cell.
We're at Mount Isobel Hospital, Cassie's voice screamed in my mind. It's Gorham and Franks, she added.
Chapter 14
Cassie
Gorham's ice demon held a screaming Jinx Hicks against him, while Franks' threatened Jerry, Pete and me with Jinx's I.V. stand. Jinx was still attached to the line and screeched whenever Franks brandished the pole.
Jerry had the sense to block the door so nobody else could get in, but outside, police guards were shouting at us to let them in.
If we did, they'd become hostages, too if we weren't careful.
"Set him down, or so help me, you'll die here," Pete gritted at Franks.
"Get back or he dies here," Gorham shouted.
"Kill them," I told Pete, my voice as cold as if I were made of ice, too.
"With pleasure." Pete and Jerry turned to rock demon and leapt at Gorham and Franks. Franks swung the pole at Pete, but not hard enough to harm a rock demon. The swing resulted in another shriek from Jinx as the I.V. was torn from his hand.
Pete and Jerry turned toward Franks, since he was now lifting the bed to throw at them and Gorham had backed up as far as he could against an inside wall.
"No," I screamed as Gorham's ice broke through the wall, and then the wall leading to the hallway outside from the adjoining room.
"On it," Jerry yelled as his rock demon raced after Gorham. Pete put a giant fist straight through the bed and connected with Franks behind it, shattering ice demon shards everywhere.
By that time the cops had managed to shove their way through the door and came in with guns blazing. Bullets bounced off Jerry's rock demon; I got hit twice before becoming fire and rendering their guns and bullets useless.
Parke
This time, I followed Yosuke's advice and went straight to the prison where Doyle Hicks was incarcerated. Yes, we were about to facilitate a jail break, but he would be far from free after we took him.
And, since Cassie got wounded trying to save his idiot brother, I didn't care if Doyle died in my custody.
"Who are you?" Doyle Hicks demanded as Yosuke, Trey and I appeared in his cell.
"A nightmare, come to life," Trey grinned, showing Hicks the full length of his fangs. "You will come with us. You will not speak while you're with us. You will not be able to tell anyone how you arrived at your destination. You understand?"
Doyle nodded his head, his eyes wide and unfocused.
"We have a nice cell waiting for you in a federal prison in Washington State, where nobody will know your real name and no visitors or calls will be allowed," Trey went on. "Yosuke?" Trey turned to the wizard.
Doyle Hicks disappeared with us, leaving his name behind in a Georgia prison.
BlackWing X
Zarigar
"You're sure she's all right?" Denevik demanded. I'd recreated the images of the attack on Cassie inside the hospital. She'd been hit by two bullets before stripping the guns from the police and turning them to useless, melted metal.
"She is fine, although the wounds may be sore later," I explained. "Her fire destroyed the bullets when she turned, and the wounds cauterized themselves."
"Damn, this is nerve-wracking," Denevik complained. "I have to sit here and watch, when I could
be helping her."
"Now is not the time to interfere," I reminded him. I didn't like it any better than he did, but rules were rules.
Cassie
"Stop fussing—the bullets vaporized when I became fire, and the wounds were cauterized," I held out my right arm so Rob and Gina could survey the damage.
"Does it hurt?" Gina asked.
"It aches, but I don't have to worry about infection."
"I'm still interested in how you pulled guns away without frying police officers, and didn't burn the hospital down in the process," Rob's arms crossed over his chest.
"I don't know," I warbled. "It just happened, okay?"
"Jinx Hicks is dead," Zephyr walked into the bedroom. "Didn't survive the internal injuries sustained after Gorham's ice demon threw him at Jerry's rock demon."
"At least Gorham and Franks are both dead, now," I shoved hair away from my face with my left hand.
"As is Morton King," Cliff strode in, followed by Ebb. "Just got a call from Parke; he and Trey are settling Doyle Hicks into his new abode and asking questions. Parke asked about you, and then told me that he killed Morton King when he and Dalton broke into the jail to take Lilith Sloane."
"So Dalton got away with Lilith. Damn," I sighed. "Cliff, we've got a lot of damage control to do."
"Trey's department is handling it," Cliff said. "That's the other thing Parke told me. No idea how they're going to explain all this, but I'll be waiting to hear what they say."
"Should be interesting, all right," Rob said dryly.
"Do you think this means that Lilith Sloane and Jinx Hicks are associated with Shakkor Agdah?" Ebb asked.
"I don't know what it means," I said. "Somehow, if they weren't connected, I believe they are now. Too bad two of them got away. We still don't know the connection between them and Cliff."
"I'm just glad Doc is in a different hospital. They could have gone after him, too," Cliff said.
"I hope not—I hope he's out of this. Does he have guards? We can move him," I said, struck suddenly by the truth in Cliff's statement.
"Police are outside his door, but recent events," Cliff shrugged.
"Yeah. Look, can you find out if we can move him elsewhere? Might be safer for all involved."
"I'll ask. Word is he's coming along. It's the werewolf in him, you know."
"Uh, this raises questions," I began.
"Don't worry—it's been covered," Cliff reassured me. "His Packmaster is on the job."
"You could bring him here to convalesce—if he's agreeable," Rob suggested.
"That—may be a possibility," Cliff sounded thoughtful. "I'll suggest that to him. I was planning to see him later this morning, but my transport's on the fritz." He winked at me and smiled.
"At least you can tell him how his attacker died. That ought to bring a smile to his face," I said.
"Not many people have been tossed by an ice demon trying to stop a rock demon," Cliff agreed. "I hope he sees the humor in it."
"Me, too." I let my head flop back on my pillow. "Is anybody hungry?" I whined.
"I think we can find something to eat," Cliff said. "I'll even join you."
Parke
"Too bad Lilith didn't tell him a damn thing about what she was doing—he's never heard of Cliff Young before," I complained. Trey, Yosuke and I sat in a Japanese restaurant in Seattle, waiting for drinks and sushi. At least Yosuke and I were. Trey didn't care; he'd had his bag of blood earlier.
"If she tries to reach him, she'll know soon enough that he's been moved," Trey said. "If we dangle him in front of her like a carrot, maybe she'll turn herself in—if she's not in Black Myth's clutches, anyway."
"If they have her, you'll probably never see or hear of her again," I agreed. "If they're working to get information out of her, Cliff's name is all she has. That fucking address book is now in the hands of Atlanta PD."
"Perhaps we should take that bit of information back—they've already compromised the jail and a hospital, using demons," Yosuke suggested.
"Do you want to go right now?" I frowned at Yosuke.
"I've asked Will to retrieve it. He'll let me know when he has it."
Less than five minutes later, just as Yosuke was served his hot tea, he received word that Will had taken the address book and returned it to Cliff. "He says," Yosuke told me when our server walked away, "that someone should be watching the evidence cage, in case Shakkor Agdah shows up."
"On it," Trey rose while pulling his cell from a pocket. "I'll be back in a few."
"Gyoza," our server was back, setting the appetizer in front of us. "Soup," she added, putting bowls of steaming miso soup on the table.
"Man, this smells good," I sighed and lifted my chopsticks to nab a gyoza dumpling. We were nearly finished with our meal by the time Trey returned to the table. His face was a mask.
"Black Myth attacked the police station holding the evidence," he grated. "They tore the place apart when they didn't find what they wanted. Four officers are dead, and three others may have the disease. They're all en route to the nearest hospital with enough quarantine space to take care of them."
I stared at Trey, a piece of tuna roll halfway to my mouth. "That's not all," he sat down with a heavy sigh. "Somebody on the street took video of part of the attack on the station with a cell phone. There are images of black cloaks out there, now, and my department is scrambling to deal with all this."
"I believe the phrase is, you've been outed," Yosuke said calmly. "From now on, things will be different on this world. It will be your choice whether to tell the truth—or a lie."
"Fucking hell." I dropped my chopsticks on my plate and swore again as I rose from my chair. "Damn. Fuck, shit, damn, and fuck again."
"I'll take care of the bill," Trey reached for a wallet. "Go outside. Make calls if you must, and it looks very likely that will be necessary. Yosuke and I will be out after he finishes his meal."
I stalked out of the restaurant while my rock demon wanted to manifest and tear the place down. Humans were so easily frightened, and one glimpse of a real werewolf, vampire or demon would send them into hysterics.
How the hell would we contain this? We were just as much citizens of this world as the humans were, but how to convince them of that?
I needed to speak with Cliff, Cassie and the sprites. Cassie? I sent.
Oh, hey, Parke.
Shit has hit the fan, baby. I think Shakkor Agdah just outed all of us.
Cassie
Trey?
Cassie? He sounded surprised to hear from me.
I think I know how to approach this whole outing thing.
If you have suggestions, now's the time.
Introduce Shakkor Agdah, first. Put it out there that they're responsible for the disease. These are alien invaders from long ago, according to Will, and I believe that's true. Tell everybody that these are the ones trying to destroy everything.
And then what?
We will come forward voluntarily, tell our side, which is that we were born here, same as the humans, and we've been fighting Shakkor Agdah since day one, because they threaten us, too.
Damn. Have you discussed this with Parke, yet?
No, and I didn't want to argue about it with him. That's why I wanted to run it past you, first.
I'll be on my phone in five seconds, talking to my department.
Thank you.
Parke
Yosuke came out of the restaurant, but Trey had yet to appear.
"What's he doing?" I sounded irritated to my own ears.
"Speaking with his department superiors. There may be a better way to handle the situation than I first thought," Yosuke admitted. "I like this place," he said. "It's cool, here. I prefer that climate."
"It rains a lot; that's why there's a coffee shop on nearly every corner."
"Sleep is seldom overrated," he observed.
"Yeah, but keeping your job is important, too."
"We may have a solution, now, but it
will require a great deal of cooperation," Trey said as he stepped outside the restaurant door.
"Whose cooperation?" I asked.
"Yours, the Grand Master's and the Vampire Council's."
Cassie
"Look, if you don't need me, I'm going to bed," I grumped at Parke. Cliff, the Vampire Council and Parke could kick around what to tell the human population and when. Trey's department was already putting short informational videos together, and someone in the FBI was being interviewed by several news organizations and newspapers, foreign and domestic.
Shakkor Agdah, whether they wanted it or not, was about to be splashed onto every television, computer and phone screen around the world, with a detailed description of what they'd done to release prisoners and spread their concocted disease across the country. That would be accompanied by the video of the attack on an Atlanta Police Department.
Then, either later in the day or the following day, or night, as the case would be, Parke, Cliff and a Vampire Council member would appear on screens everywhere, explaining their part in removing the threat last time, and that they were combatting Black Myth this time, too.
Whether Trey's department would admit they existed was anybody's guess.
"Should I wake you if we need your help?" Parke asked.
"If you must. Damn, my arm still hurts." I walked out of his study, leaving him, Cliff and Trey staring after me.
"I've contacted Averill. It will be up to the sprite kings and queens whether to join Parke and the others," Rob joined me as I walked toward my bedroom.
"I know. Go to bed, Rob. Tomorrow is gonna be a busy day."
Lilith Sloane
"You are a stupid bitch, and I will only allow you to live as long as you are useful to us," the cloaked woman pointed a finger at me.
Worth Your While Page 20